Tio MacDonald has 4 audiobooks on Listento.it, narrated by 6 narrators. The most-rated is My Crime Series - The First Offense: Five True Crime Stories from California Inmates.
The Johnny D. Miles Learning Curve: An Introduction to (Death Row Inmate) Johnny D. Miles' Collage Art, Poetry, & Mind
Summary
Visit the website showcasing Johnny Miles' collage work: www.milesdynasty.com Twenty-seven years after the murder of Nancy Willem, the State of California has not put Johnny Miles to death. He has lived in a one-person cell on San Quentin’s death row, among hundreds of others convicted of first-degree murder. Johnny Miles has had to find a measure of acceptance to continue living on death row; he has chosen to live while under the sentence of death. Johnny Miles is the primary author of the book: The Johnny D. Miles Learning Curve: An Introduction to (Death Row Inmate) Johnny D. Miles’ Collage Art, Poetry & Mind. The learning curve is fine art in that patient informed perception is required for a fuller imbuing of Johnny Miles' artistic intent and subterranean self-expression. The learning curve is meant for the learned: a person that can separate flair from meaning; a person able to perceive thematic repetition and aberration; more or less an investigative and curious art enthusiast and/or enjoyer of abstract poetry. Johnny Miles' collaging and poetry exist within the solitary confinement of his own sense of rhyme and rhythm, concept, tone, and intrigue. His work is a soliloquy in the effort to find meaning and transmit meaning. All listening of his work should occur with the background knowledge of his minimal formal education for Johnny dropped out of school in the 10th grade. The word psychopath denoted is clinical while in general parlance communicates pure evil. The word "psychopathy" connotes less negativity to the labeled while still bordering on insult. Basketball great Michael Jordan has been called psychopathic as has the sitting American President, Donald Trump. British psychologist Kevin Dutton in his so-called Great British Psychopath Survey found many eminently valued professions, such as clergy, are filled in great proportions by psychopaths. Due to my own lack of credentials and my genuine relationship with Johnny Miles I cannot label him. However, Johnny Miles' art and poetic expressions are a step toward Johnny Miles exposing himself to the world as he is. Death row shaped Johnny Miles into a collage artist. Inspiration struck his person in the form of an adolescent's after-school letter to a death row inmate; he tried collaging and it worked for him. Since that day in 2003, Johnny Miles has been dedicated to the art form. Search for the My Crime Series on Amazon and Audible, biographies written by inmates on inmates. The My Crime series "candidly communicates the upbringing, life experience, character, and motivations of the incarcerated". Such communication is to grant the broader public an understanding of the men and women in California prisons (www.crimebios.com).
©2019 East Oakland Times, LLC & Johnny Duane Miles (P)2019 East Oakland Times, LLC & Johnny Duane Miles
Hood to Heels: Gang Related Murder
Summary
Listen to the amazing story and see photos documenting Lawrence's transition to Lauren Lawrence was sentenced to life in prison. He owned and drove the car sighted in a gang-related killing. As a leader in a bloody feud with a rival gang, Lawrence had, for some time, terrorized Los Angeles’ neighborhoods. Before his arrest, he sensed his days on the streets were numbered. As a financial precaution for his absence, Lawrence purchased sums of larger sized clothes for his infant son. Lawrence's intuition was correct, he was to leave the streets, yet Lawrence could not have mentally conceived the true transition that lay ahead. Lawrence was on his way to becoming Lauren, a transgender woman of color. From Hood to Heels is the unbelievable true story of a child raised in violent circumstances who became the epitome of extreme violence while at the same time holding tight to an inner secret of female identity. From Hood to Heels presents two stories in one: first, the personal experience of a child born in violent circumstances; you will come to know the world of drug dealing, gangs, and violence. You will grow uncomfortable as children make life and death decisions that often increase the circle of violence. You will find out how crimes, such as carjackings and crack dealing, are perpetrated. You will witness the racial divisions found in Los Angeles neighborhoods pitting Hispanic gangs against black American gangs. The first story of From Hood to Heels is a true American tale of a life born behind the 8-ball as told with gravity, frankness, and doses of humor. The second story marks the birth of Lauren, a transgender woman of color. The second story reveals the deliberation period for a person in identity conflict. You will stay up late with Lauren, as her mind swirls in the consideration of who she is. You will cross bed bunks with Lauren as she carves out her sexual identity. With Lauren, you will visit the prison psychologist and with Lauren, you will confront former gang associates as they challenge Lauren's identity change. From Hood to Heels is the story of Lauren, her upbringing, her adolescence, her crime, and her transition into womanhood as told by Lauren to a fellow inmate writer. PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.
©2018 EAST OAKLAND TIMES, LLC (P)2018 EAST OAKLAND TIMES, LLC
38 Years Later: Robbery Kidnap
Summary
Brian Shipp is a risk-taker. He skis black-diamond slopes, throttles fast-moving motorcycles, and cherishes the thrill of an occasional misdeed. He is a young man with a twinkle in his eye and a propensity for getting caught. Through hard work and charm, he races his way to the top, only to find himself, time after time, crashing down due to ill-conceived schemes. 38 Years Later is a post-modern tale of a youth from a broken background making sense of the world by giving his all to every endeavor, be it unlawful or good-natured. It is the tale of a life in progress to this day. Brian is the youngest child of three in a tradition-minded middle-class family that disintegrates during the days of the 1960s cultural shift. Similar to the times, Brian lives a life split between quicker, easier, yet riskier means of moving forward, namely illicit activities. The steady character and work ethic he inherited from his father. Brian is not all strength nor immune to loss. The loss of a unified family and later, in his teenage years, a loss of a strong sense of personal identity form trying times for a gifted young man pulled by opposing internal dialogues on how to establish himself in the world. 38 Years Later covers two periods in Brian’s life: before prison and life in prison. The before-prison story takes the listener through Brian’s upbringing and early-life choices while living in the San Francisco Bay Area. The before-prison story also covers in detail the extraordinary play-by-play of Brian’s 1980 commitment offense, an offense for which he remains in prison today. The life-in-prison story reveals how time does not stop when men face the world in shackles. Follow Brian as he states his nuptial agreement in the confines of prison. Laugh with Brian as his firstborn “springs a leak” while having his diaper changed in the prison visiting room. Work with Brian as he builds a business from prison that makes it possible for his family to purchase their California home. Finally, stand with Brian as it all crashes down. Brian’s story is a tale of redemption and a tale that exemplifies the enduring character of human hope. The East Oakland Times, LLC welcomes you to purchase the audiobook today.
©2018 East Oakland Times, LLC (P)2018 East Oakland Times, LLC
My Crime Series - The First Offense: Five True Crime Stories from California Inmates
Summary
Audiobook one: "Spinner’s Story" From a cell in San Quentin, the San Francisco Bay area’s internationally known California state prison, comes to you the true biography of an incarcerated felon, Jay Jay. Raised in the Silicon Valley during an era when farms outnumbered industry, Jay Jay found trouble young, very young. Serving time at age 12 is not the beginning of Jay Jay’s descent into criminality. Take a crash course on the drug game with Jay Jay and you will find yourself hearing scenarios you never imagined possible. Audiobook two: "Holler at Your Girl" Cjay is a transgender woman of color housed in San Quentin. Cjay has been in nearly as many prisons as she has fingers, yet nothing in her upbringing predestined her for crime. Addiction does that to people, turns good to bad. Cjay loved and hated drugs. Drugs allowed her mind to rest, but her mind could not rest without drugs. Her mind, in fact, was spinning with pain, guilt, and rejection. Being transgender, especially in the 1980s and 1990s, was the life of a pariah. Fortunately for Cjay, she had her fellow trans-sisters. Audiobook three: "Hood to Heels" "Hood to Heels" is the unbelievable true story of Lawrence, a child raised in American ghetto circumstances who became the epitome of extreme violence while at the same time holding tight an inner secret of female identity. Prepare yourself to look behind the curtain. You will find out how crimes such as carjacking and crack dealing are perpetrated. You will stay up late with Lawrence as his mind swirls in the consideration of who he is. You will witness the racial divisions found in Los Angeles neighborhoods pitting Hispanic gangs against black American gangs. Finally, you will visit the prison psychologist with Lawrence, and with Lawrence transitioned to Lauren, you will confront former gang associates as they challenge her identity. Audiobook four: "Mouthpiece" "Mouthpiece" is a brutally told biographical sketch of an incarcerated pimp, in prison for human trafficking. Raw boasts and brazen inner-city tales litter the story’s violent, unrepentant landscape. Money is the aim, and young women are the product. Bullets fly, tears drop, and children watch. "Mouthpiece" communicates the pride and prejudices of a warrior pimp seizing plunder, camaraderie, and a demigod sense of self through violence, street credentials, and psychological manipulation. Audiobook five: "38 Years Later" Brian Shipp is a risk-taker. He skis black-diamond slopes, throttles fast-moving motorcycles, and cherishes the thrill of an occasional misdeed. He is a young man with a twinkle in his eye and a propensity for getting caught. Through hard work and charm, Brian races his way to the top only, time after time, to find himself crashing down due to ill-conceived schemes.
©2018 East Oakland Times, LLC (P)2018 East Oakland Times, LLC