MadCow57
2004-02-18 20:48:30 UTC
Appropriately, this was posted on alt.obituaries:
--------
Feb. 17, 2004
Ex-prison chef book details last meals
Associated Press
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2403965
CROCKETT, Texas -- A cheeseburger and french fries.
That's what more Texas inmates facing execution request as a last meal
than any other, says Brian Price, who prepared 220 final meals in the
Huntsville prison kitchen while serving 14 years there himself.
Steak, ice cream and fried chicken are popular too. Vegetables? Not so
much, although one inmate wanted fried squash, fried eggplant, mashed
potatoes, snap peas, boiled cabbage, corn on the cob, spinach and
cheese-covered broccoli with his chicken.
Price provides 42 jailhouse recipes and details on the inmates' crimes
in "Meals to Die For," a more than 500-page cookbook coming out in
March. Paige Corp. of San Antonio, whose president is Frank Wesch,
Price's nephew, is the publisher.
"Some folks think I'm poking fun at a serious and solemn subject,"
said Price, who was paroled last year after serving time on a pair of
convictions related to the abduction of his brother-in-law and a
sexual assault on an ex-wife. "My intention is not to offend anyone."
But with recipes with names such as Gallows Gravy, Rice Rigor Mortis
and Old Sparky's Genuine Convict Chili in escalating levels of spice
(5,000, 10,000 or 20,000 volts), some people find the book in bad
taste.
"He's a scum-sucking bottom-feeder," said Dianne Clements, president
of the Houston-based Justice For All, a victims' rights group. She
said Price is trying to profit from crime at the expense of victims.
Price said his book is as much about prison experiences as it is food.
"There's a fascination with death, the macabre, a curiosity of the
dark side," he said. "There's no way to get around it."
Until December, every item requested in a last meal since Texas
resumed capital punishment in 1982 was listed on the state Department
of Criminal Justice's Internet site. That was 313 meals until the site
was updated and the listing eliminated because officials said they'd
received complaints from people who found it offensive.
"The subject of last meals is one that seems to captivate the public,"
department spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said. Price will "definitely
find an audience in chronicling his years as the preparer of all the
last meals."
Price's recollections draw from the prison system's online records of
death row inmates and are embellished with entries he made in a
personal journal during his years in prison. He also includes in the
book copies of some of the handwritten notes inmates submitted
requesting their final meals.
Price begins the book with the filet mignon he was asked to cook in
1991 for Lawrence Buxton, who was given lethal injection for a robbery
and slaying in Houston. He received a T-bone stake instead because the
prison pantry didn't stock the more expensive cut of meat. Now,
inmates only get hamburger steak.
Price already was working as a prison cook and volunteered to do a
final meal for Buxton after other cooks indicated they were squeamish
about the task.
"I felt kind of strange," he said. "But I was moved to pray over his
soul."
Price said he stayed awake until midnight, which back then was when
Texas carried out executions.
"I felt a connection," he said. "I felt the emotion of what he was
going through."
He later found out from a corrections officer Buxton had complimented
him for the meal.
"That little feedback -- it moved me," he said.
Price told prison officials that instead of seeking volunteers to
prepare last meals, he'd take on the duties.
Inmates usually requested a cheeseburger and french fries as part of a
final meal, which he calls in his book "chopping block cheeseburger
and firing squad french fries."
"I think it's sort of a comfort food," Price said. "There's nothing
better when you're hungry."
Prison officials try to meet last meal requests, but usually choose
from whatever is kept in the prison pantry. So, a request for lobster
likely means a meal of fish sticks, the closest thing to seafood kept
in stock.
Price said he promised himself that during his time behind bars he
would "do something positive, apply my mind, ... do something other
than play dominoes or pornography or play the prison game."
Any profits Price receives after buying a cabin in the East Texas
woods -- so he and his wife can vacate the travel trailer they now
call home -- would be pumped into his church and a prison ministry the
couple operates part-time, he said.
"Lord knows we'll be good stewards," he said.
On the Net:
www.mealstodiefor.com
--------
Feb. 17, 2004
Ex-prison chef book details last meals
Associated Press
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/nation/2403965
CROCKETT, Texas -- A cheeseburger and french fries.
That's what more Texas inmates facing execution request as a last meal
than any other, says Brian Price, who prepared 220 final meals in the
Huntsville prison kitchen while serving 14 years there himself.
Steak, ice cream and fried chicken are popular too. Vegetables? Not so
much, although one inmate wanted fried squash, fried eggplant, mashed
potatoes, snap peas, boiled cabbage, corn on the cob, spinach and
cheese-covered broccoli with his chicken.
Price provides 42 jailhouse recipes and details on the inmates' crimes
in "Meals to Die For," a more than 500-page cookbook coming out in
March. Paige Corp. of San Antonio, whose president is Frank Wesch,
Price's nephew, is the publisher.
"Some folks think I'm poking fun at a serious and solemn subject,"
said Price, who was paroled last year after serving time on a pair of
convictions related to the abduction of his brother-in-law and a
sexual assault on an ex-wife. "My intention is not to offend anyone."
But with recipes with names such as Gallows Gravy, Rice Rigor Mortis
and Old Sparky's Genuine Convict Chili in escalating levels of spice
(5,000, 10,000 or 20,000 volts), some people find the book in bad
taste.
"He's a scum-sucking bottom-feeder," said Dianne Clements, president
of the Houston-based Justice For All, a victims' rights group. She
said Price is trying to profit from crime at the expense of victims.
Price said his book is as much about prison experiences as it is food.
"There's a fascination with death, the macabre, a curiosity of the
dark side," he said. "There's no way to get around it."
Until December, every item requested in a last meal since Texas
resumed capital punishment in 1982 was listed on the state Department
of Criminal Justice's Internet site. That was 313 meals until the site
was updated and the listing eliminated because officials said they'd
received complaints from people who found it offensive.
"The subject of last meals is one that seems to captivate the public,"
department spokeswoman Michelle Lyons said. Price will "definitely
find an audience in chronicling his years as the preparer of all the
last meals."
Price's recollections draw from the prison system's online records of
death row inmates and are embellished with entries he made in a
personal journal during his years in prison. He also includes in the
book copies of some of the handwritten notes inmates submitted
requesting their final meals.
Price begins the book with the filet mignon he was asked to cook in
1991 for Lawrence Buxton, who was given lethal injection for a robbery
and slaying in Houston. He received a T-bone stake instead because the
prison pantry didn't stock the more expensive cut of meat. Now,
inmates only get hamburger steak.
Price already was working as a prison cook and volunteered to do a
final meal for Buxton after other cooks indicated they were squeamish
about the task.
"I felt kind of strange," he said. "But I was moved to pray over his
soul."
Price said he stayed awake until midnight, which back then was when
Texas carried out executions.
"I felt a connection," he said. "I felt the emotion of what he was
going through."
He later found out from a corrections officer Buxton had complimented
him for the meal.
"That little feedback -- it moved me," he said.
Price told prison officials that instead of seeking volunteers to
prepare last meals, he'd take on the duties.
Inmates usually requested a cheeseburger and french fries as part of a
final meal, which he calls in his book "chopping block cheeseburger
and firing squad french fries."
"I think it's sort of a comfort food," Price said. "There's nothing
better when you're hungry."
Prison officials try to meet last meal requests, but usually choose
from whatever is kept in the prison pantry. So, a request for lobster
likely means a meal of fish sticks, the closest thing to seafood kept
in stock.
Price said he promised himself that during his time behind bars he
would "do something positive, apply my mind, ... do something other
than play dominoes or pornography or play the prison game."
Any profits Price receives after buying a cabin in the East Texas
woods -- so he and his wife can vacate the travel trailer they now
call home -- would be pumped into his church and a prison ministry the
couple operates part-time, he said.
"Lord knows we'll be good stewards," he said.
On the Net:
www.mealstodiefor.com