genuine intent

Year ago, as my first novel, "Rhythm," was in the hands of first draft readers, I went to work on a new book project about forgiveness. It was conceived as a series of letters between two fictional characters: a convicted murderer on death-row and the young daughter of the police officer he had killed. At the time, I got so bogged down in the minute details of death penalty cases -- how they are tried, the timelines and steps in the appeals process, etc. -- that I began to lose the focus of the story, and so I put it on the shelf for awhile.

There it still sits. I do hope to get back to it one of these days, as the story has a solid backbone.

What reminded me of this back-burner project today was this article on CNN.com: "Teen gets scholarship from death row prisoners' group."

Tuesday, June 7, 2005 Posted: 3:02 PM EDT (1902 GMT)

GREENSBORO, North Carolina (AP) -- A college student whose younger sister was murdered more than a decade ago was presented Tuesday with a scholarship from an unlikely source -- death row inmates from around the country.

The student in question, 19-year-old Zach Osborne, plans to become a police officer.

But I was struck by the efforts and attitudes of the inmates involved. Instead of becoming mired in desperation and bitterness, these people have chosen instead to have an active and constructive impact on the society that has condemned them. These death-row inmates from across the country have banded together to publish a newsletter, Compassion, whose subscription rates cover the costs of publication and help to build the scholarship fund. The newsletter's pages are filled with artwork, essays, and poetry contributed by death-row prisoners, and is devoid of information on legal cases or complaints about prison life. Compassion is a project of the Roman Catholic Church's peace and justice committee and focuses on the "positive contributions of death row inmates."

Osborne was awarded the scholarship based on an essay he submitted concerning his own journey in forgiveness -- in his case, forgiving his step-father for the rape and murder of his young sister. While his step-father is currently awaiting execution, Osborne believes that his personal experience with domestic violence will motivate him to be a better police officer.

"We would like to support him in realizing his dream of becoming an officer of the law and finding a way to prevent future violence," wrote Dennis Skillicorn, a death row inmate in Missouri who is the newsletter's editor, in the May issue. "Our intent is genuine."

Perhaps I'll have to bring that project of mine back into the production schedule.