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Author Delivers Insider's Account of Deadly Alcatraz Riot
Father Was Hostage in Notorious 1946 Prisoner Escape Attempt
For a printable version of this release, please click here.
June 1999 - Thirteen-year-old Ernie Lageson Jr. waited in anguish as thousands lined the shores of San Francisco Bay, where U.S. Marines were dropping grenades on Alcatraz Prison. The shelling was a last resort effort to quell the escape attempt that had begun three days earlier. Inside Cell Bock D, six desperate prisoners were determined to shoot their way out of "the Rock." They held nine guards hostage. Young Lageson's father, Ernie Lageson, Sr., was among them.
Now, fifty-two years later, Ernie Lageson Jr., tells the story in Battle at Alcatraz -- A Desperate Attempt to Escape the Rock (Addicus Books, 1999). The May 1946 breakout attempt became international news after inmates broke into the gun gallery, armed themselves and took the guards hostage. When it became clear to the inmates that their escape was foiled, they decided to eliminate all witnesses. They forced the guards into a cell and shot them, leaving them for dead. Miraculously, Ernie Sr. survived and lived to pass the story on to his son.
"This is the book my father should have written," Lageson says. "In fact, he had started writing a book, but was never was able to complete it. I always thought the story should be recorded." Ironically, after surviving the prison incident, Ernie Lageson Sr. died of cancer a few years later at 42.
Lageson's book describes both how the inmates meticulously planned the escape attempt as well as the three-day siege that resulted. "Looking back, it's amazing close they came to pulling off the escape. Only a minor glitch stopped them. Such an escape was not supposed to happen at Alcatraz," Lageson said.
Alcatraz -- the federal prison -- was closed in 1963, but the "mystique" of Alcatraz lives on. Today, it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in California, with more than one million visitors annually.
The author is available for telephone interviews. He is also available for on-site interviews at Alcatraz Prison.
Rod Colvin
Addicus Books, Inc.
402-330-7493
info@AddicusBooks.com
http://www.AddicusBooks.com
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