Exit to Freedom

Rating:
Summary: Totally Awesome & Inspiring!
Review: "Exit to Freedom" is by far one of the best books I've read! The authors (Calvin Johnson & Greg Hampikian) did an outstanding job taking us through the sixteen painful years Calvin experienced in jail for crimes he did not commit.

The transformation of starting out extremely angry and bitter to learning to accept God's guidance and love is clearly illustrated throughout the book.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. Calvin Johnson's willingness to forgive those who wronged him is a lesson we can practice in our daily lives.

There are so many others like Calvin Johnson locked up for crimes they did not commit. I applaud the Innocence Project and other organizations willing to "right" a terrible "wong".

I just purchased two more copies for gifts. Best wishes and blessings to the Johnson family.

Rating:
Summary: Totally Awesome & Inspiring!
Review: "Exit to Freedom" is by far one of the best books I've read! The authors (Calvin Johnson & Greg Hampikian) did an outstanding job taking us through the sixteen painful years Calvin experienced in jail for crimes he did not commit.

The transformation of starting out extremely angry and bitter to learning to accept God's guidance and love is clearly illustrated throughout the book.

I highly recommend this book to everyone. Calvin Johnson's willingness to forgive those who wronged him is a lesson we can practice in our daily lives.

There are so many others like Calvin Johnson locked up for crimes they did not commit. I applaud the Innocence Project and other organizations willing to "right" a terrible "wong".

I just purchased two more copies for gifts. Best wishes and blessings to the Johnson family.

Rating:
Summary: A Moving Memoir!
Review: Exit to Freedom is the autobiography of Calvin C. Johnson, Jr. A man who was wrongly convicted of rape and sentenced to live in prison in 1983 and spent 16 years there until DNA testing proved him innocent.

Johnson's reflections on the criminal justice system are eye-opening, heartbreaking, and extremely frustrating. He candidly reveals the cruel realities of prison life (work conditions reminiscent of yesteryear "chain gangs," rules for survival, and prison etiquette), conveys the shame and embarrassment of his ordeal, and the isolation and sadness he felt being away from family and loved ones.

The story follows a chronological path opening with reflections on his early years as a son of an Ohio senator who was also prominent lawyer and community leader. His mother was totally dedicated to the family and home. He recounts the good and the bad: meeting Hank Aaron as a boy, achievements in high school athletics, deejaying at a local radio station as a teenager, the college years, and an addiction to marijuana that eventually lead to a conviction.

He details his first conviction on drug related and burglary charges and the subsequent railroading he underwent on the rape charges. His case is riddled with legal complications and countless delays which led to severe financial and emotion strain on his family. Almost by luck, he was introduced to Project Innocence, a nonprofit legal clinic, and is eventually exonerated by DNA testing.

This book is a harrowing story of one man's fight for freedom in a racially clouded, economically biased court system. Johnson, now an ordained minister, cites his unwavering faith in God and his family's love and support as the thrusts which carried him through some tough times. He expresses no bitterness towards his accusers and continues to work on the Georgia Project Innocence program.

Reviewed by Phyllis
APOOO Bookclub, The Nubian Circle Book Club

Rating:
Summary: Exit to Freedom Is About More than Exit From Jail
Review: I will disclose up front that I am the former pastor and current friend of Greg Hampikian.

When I obtained a copy of Calvin C. Johnson, Jr.'s Exit to Freedom (with Greg Hampikian, University of Georgia Press, 2003) I thought I would just skim the book. But when I started reading it, I could not put it down. The same thing happened to my wife.

I thought the book was about an exit from prison but soon realized it was about much more. It is also about an exit from anger and bitterness, an exit from drugs and crime, and--most important--an exit to "spiritual freedom" (p. 272), which means service of others.

PJS, Ph.D.

Rating:
Summary: Faith and Hope
Review: In Iraq, prisoners have a saying that roughly translates: " I am going to go jump off my can."

It is a statement about their acceptance of a fate that is out of their control. They have given up and might as well jump off of something but their spirit prevents them from jumping off of anything bigger than a can.

Calvin Johnson's story is one of the human spirit. Despite a fate that is out of his control, he moves from acceptance and anger at his unjust conviction and incarceration to perserverence and an unfaltering faith in god's love.

This is not truly a story about the science of DNA testing. It is a story about un anwavering faith in god and one man's fight for freedom.

It was an absolutely fascinating read. I would recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Faith and Hope
Review: In Iraq, prisoners have a saying that roughly translates: " I am going to go jump off my can."

It is a statement about their acceptance of a fate that is out of their control. They have given up and might as well jump off of something but their spirit prevents them from jumping off of anything bigger than a can.

Calvin Johnson's story is one of the human spirit. Despite a fate that is out of his control, he moves from acceptance and anger at his unjust conviction and incarceration to perserverence and an unfaltering faith in god's love.

This is not truly a story about the science of DNA testing. It is a story about un anwavering faith in god and one man's fight for freedom.

It was an absolutely fascinating read. I would recommend it to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Necessary Reading
Review: In literary terms, it might be easy to smirk at some of the posturing taken by Mr. Johnson in the story. Reflections on self and faith often seem self-serving. However, under the extraordinary fate of his circumstance, 16-plus years in prison for a brutal crime he did not commit, and for a crime he was exonerated for from the get-go that seemed to dog his life in the criminal justice system, his observations are both believable as well as commanding of respect. The writing is exemplary, but it's the story that is important. This is necessary reading regardless of your views on criminal justice. And beyond that, a reader feels compelled to shed tears for Mr. Johnson even if he does not expect them. More importantly, closing the last page, it becomes impossible not to wish constant happiness in his life to atone for the wrongs done to him, if such atonement could be possible.

Rating:
Summary: a must read
Review: This is a great book, very well written and easy to read, and to add to all that it is a true story. If you want to read of a great case with Justice finally being done, you will want to read Exit to Freedom.