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Wilbert Rideau's Resume
Even a cursory glance at Mr. Rideau's resumé explains why Life
magazine, following the lead of wardens, security officers, and corrections
officials who have known him for decades, called him "the most rehabilitated
prisoner in America." The confluence in him of diligence, intelligence,
versatility, and irrepressible optimism led Shreveport Journal editor Stan
Tiner to conclude in front-page commentary more than two decades ago:
"Wilbert Rideau is an American success story because he has defeated the
indignity of his own crime and punishment with an unusual brand of hope."
That hope is reflected in the following resumé. While not a comprehensive
record of his works and honors, it illustrates how consistently and
creatively Mr. Rideau has worked, for more than a quarter-century, to make
positive and constructive contributions both to his prison community and to
the larger society outside prison walls.
To read samples of Mr. Rideau's work over the past three decades,
see Wilbert's Words. To hear him narrate the award-winning radio documentary, "Tossing Away the Keys," visit www.soundportraits.org.
Education
Self-educated after 8th grade.
Major Work Products
| 1999 | | "It's A Man's World" (invited review of lyrics to show "Marie
Christine," a retelling of the Medea story) Lincoln Center Theater Review,
Fall 1999, Issue Number 23.
| | 1998 | | The Farm: Angola, USA, co-director. Nominated for an Academy Award
for best full-length documentary; winner of Sundance Grand Jury Prize -
Documentary.
| | 1996 | | Final Judgment: The execution of Antonio James, Discovery Channel,
story by Wilbert Rideau, received the Thurgood Marshall Justice Award and a
CINE Golden Eagle Award.
| | 1994-95 | | Special correspondent for National Public Radio program "Fresh
Air."
| | 1994 | | Liguorian magazine, cover photo and inside photos of Sister Helen Prejean (February issue) |
| 1994 | | "In for Life," a short documentary created and reported for ABC News' Day One (March 14). Received a CINE Golden Eagle Award. |
| 1994 | | "Why Prisons Don't Work," invited essay, Time Magazine (March 21). |
| 1993 | | Native Tongues, a play, included a performed monologue of Rideau's
account of Oliver Stone's visit to Angola during the filming of JFK (True
Brew Theatre, New Orleans; Tulane U. Center Stage). |
| 1993 | | "People Don't Want Solutions," interview, Time (August 23). |
| 1993 | | Photography published: Random House (Dead Man Walking); New York
Times Magazine; Atlanta Journal-Constitution. |
| 1992 | | Life Sentences: Rage and Survival Behind Bars (Times Books),
co-editor. |
| 1991 | | The Wall Is Strong: Corrections in Louisiana (Center for Louisiana
Studies, University of Southwestern Louisiana), co-editor. |
| 1990 | | "Tossing Away the Keys," co-produced, co-wrote, and narrated NPR
radio documentary, which won a 1991 Livingston Award for co-producer Dave
Isay. |
| 1987 | | Photography published, Scholastic, February 9. |
| 1976 - present | | The Angolite, seven-time finalist for National Magazine
Award; numerous awards from the American Bar Association.
Editor/writer/photographer. |
| 1976 | | "Veterans Incarcerated," Penthouse Magazine (April). |
| 1974-75 | | "The Jungle," weekly column for a chain of black-audience newspapers
in Louisiana and Mississippi. |
Other awards and honors
| 1999 | | Tree of Life Award, Friends of the Black Oscar Nominees. |
| 1997 | | Overall 1996 Excellence in Journalism Award (for Final Judgment),
Louisiana Bar Association |
| 1993 | | Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Service to the City of New
Orleans, awarded by mayor. |
| 1992 | | "Person of the Week," World News Tonight with Peter Jennings,
ABC-TV.
1990 and 1989 Featured speaker, annual Washington, D.C.,
convention of American Society of Newspaper Editors. |
| 1989 | | Profile of Mr. Rideau and his achievements included in Yearbook of
Black Achievement in Louisiana. |
| 1989 | | Honored as "Journalist of the Year" by the National Sports
Foundation. |
| 1989 | | Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Service to the City of New
Orleans, awarded by mayor, marking the first and only prisoner ever to be so
honored. |
| 1988 | | U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. Invited testimony via telephone
hookup regarding civil rights for prisoners (May). |
| 1984 | | Invited panelist for discussion with Louisiana Supreme Court Justice
at Tulane University criminal justice symposium (October 23). |
| 1984 | | Nightline, ABC-TV, invited panelist for historic discussion with
Chief Justice Warren Burger (June 19, satellite hookup). |
| 1981 | | Sidney Hillman Award (Sidney Hillman Foundation) given for
"journalistic achievement that advances the human condition." |
| 1980 | | George Polk Award (Long Island University) given for "courage" in
journalism. Mr. Rideau was the first prisoner to receive this prestigious
award. |
| 1979 | | American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award, given for "outstanding
contribution to public understanding of the American system of law and
justice." Mr. Rideau was the first prisoner in the ABA's 101-year history
to be so honored. |
| 1979 | | Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award (RFK Foundation) given for
"outstanding coverage of the problems of the disadvantaged." |
Subject of Significant Profiles and Features **
| 1999 | | Johnny Cochran Tonight, two hour-long shows March 18 and 19. |
| 1993 | | "The Most Rehabilitated Prisoner in America," Life Magazine (March). |
| 1992 | | New York Times, "Killer Finds Freedom as 2nd Looks Inside," August
18, p.1. |
| 1992 | | Atlanta Journal-Constitution, "No Way Out," February 2. |
| 1992 | | Dallas Morning News, "Pardon Bid Stirs Debate," January 5. |
| 1990 | | People Magazine, September 10, pp. 63-64. |
| 1990 | | Nightline, June 7. |
| 1990 | | "Chapter VI: How Much Is Enough?" Angola, Ann Butler (USL). |
| 1989 | | ABC News 20/20, "Why Not Wilbert Rideau?" April 14. |
| 1988 | | Larry King Live, March 1. |
| 1987 | | "Wilbert Rideau: Free Mind, Imprisoned Body," Shreveport Journal,
August 14. |
| 1987 | | "The Angolite," New Orleans Magazine (May). |
| 1980 | | "Going to Press While Doing Time," New York Times Magazine, November
16. |
| | ** During pre-Oscar week in 1999, as with launch of Life Sentences in 1992,
Mr. Rideau was the subject of numerous network and cable reports and
interviews, including Good Morning America, ABC News, CBS News, Fox TV, New
York Times and Entertainment Weekly, as well as features and news reports in
England, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Italy, Germany, Australia and
elsewhere. During the past quarter century as a prison journalist, he has
been the subject of countless local, national, and international articles
and reports. |
Selected Community Service and Community Outreach Efforts
| 1974-present: | | Wilbert Rideau has voluntarily addressed thousands upon
thousands of elementary and high school students brought to Angola by their
respective schools. He tells them of the nightmarishness of the prison
experience in the hope of deterring them from criminal behavior. For the
past quarter-century Mr. Rideau has also spoken to tour groups of every
variety that have visited Angola, from legislators to ladies' clubs, from
law enforcement groups to health care workers, from Louisiana journalism,
criminal justice, and law students to out-of-state businessmen, religious
ministries and social action groups. |
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| 1977-1992: | | Participating in an official Criminal Court program that assists
young probationers, Mr. Rideau traveled to New Orleans regularly to work
with state district judge Israel Augustine until his death, then with judge
Miriam Waltzer until her appointment to the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals.
In this same vein, he also worked with Judge Foote's probationers in
Alexandria. |
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| 1977: | | Subsequent to contributing a series of three articles to a July 2,
1975, special edition of the Shreveport Journal (which received the American
Bar Association's Gavel Award for outstanding public service), one of which
was "Veterans in Prison Are Nation's Orphans," and, subsequent to his April
1976 article in Penthouse, "Veterans Incarcerated," Mr. Rideau, although not
a veteran himself, was one of three inmate co-founders of the Angola Vets
Incarcerated Service Program, which was called a model program by the
National Council of Churches and veterans organizations. The purpose of the
program is to try to help and support men who once put their lives at risk
for our country. |
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| 1978: | | Wilbert Rideau served as co-chairman of a "Cop-Con Walk," that paired
Angola Jaycee convicts with state troopers in a historic two-week walk
across the state that raised $17,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. |
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| 1980 to 1995: | | Mr. Rideau was an invited speaker on criminal justice and
journalism issues at Louisiana State University, Tulane University, Loyola
University, Southern University (Baton Rouge), Southern University at New
Orleans, Grambling State University, University of Southwestern Louisiana,
Dillard University, Delgado University, University of New Orleans, Northeast
Louisiana University at Monroe, and Louisiana Tech University. |
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| 1989: | | Initiated a dropout prevention program at the Sara T. Reed High School
in New Orleans sponsored by local officials and the Silhouette Auxiliary, a
sister organization to the Kappa Alpha Psi fraternity. At the request of
school officials, Mr. Rideau made a videotape for classroom use in New
Orleans schools. |
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| 1989: | | Made a videotape for classroom use to coincide with paperback first
edition of The Wall Is Strong. Mr. Rideau donated his share of proceeds
from the textbook to the Center for Criminal Justice Research at the
University of Southwestern Louisiana. |
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| 1989: | | Worked with the Louisiana Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers to
create a special program to assist elderly illiterate Angola inmates "lost"
within the justice bureaucracy. |
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| 1989: | | In his continuing effort to advance public understanding of crime and
punishment, Mr. Rideau participated in a number of local and national TV
programs in 1989, including (1) an hour-long "Time to Care" WBRZ-TV
documentary, assessing the relationship of illiteracy to crime and
recidivism, to promote Louisiana First Lady Patti Roemer's crusade against
illiteracy; (2) a panel discussion on the issues of prison reform and
alternatives to incarceration taped by PBS in New Orleans and broadcast
nationally; and, (3) a round table discussion of the state of Louisiana's
prisons for "Informed Sources," aired on New Orleans public TV. |
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| 1989: | | Mr. Rideau worked with the American Society of Newspaper Editors,
assisting in the development of a national project to promote and improve
prison journalism, the aim of which is to teach inmates marketable skills
and thus decrease recidivism among prisoners upon their return to society. |
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| 1976-1995: | | Mr. Rideau traveled the state addressing civic clubs, churches,
business organizations, and groups as diverse as the American Library
Association, Rotary Clubs, Boys Clubs and the Boy Scouts. |
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| 1980s-1995: | | Mr. Rideau participated several times as a speaker in the
Louisiana Black Caucus' annual Save the Children Program in Baton Rouge. |
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| 1995: | | Worked with Karen Braud of the Louisiana Bone Marrow Registry, WBRZ-TV
reporter Margaret Lawhorn, and other inmates to organize testing within the
inmate population to try to find a bone marrow match for a 14-year-old Baton
Rouge boy, Nicholas Carter. |
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| 1996: | | Featured speaker at the Society of Professional Journalists biregional
convention in Lafayette, LA. |
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| 1997-present: | | Mr. Rideau serves as president of the Angola Human Relations
Club, which cares for elderly inmates by providing such essentials as
toiletries, warm caps and gloves. The club also buries the dead at Angola,
takes care of internal funeral arrangements and provides pallbearers, cleans
the cemetery once a year and puts a flower on every grave each Easter. The
club also supports patients in Angola's Hospice Program by bringing them
fresh fruits and salads, providing escort services if hospice inmates want
to attend a movie or club meeting, and underwriting transportation costs for
families too poor to make a last visit to a dying loved one. Mr. Rideau is
also a past president of the Angola Jaycees and sits on the board of a
number of other inmate clubs. |
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