Local author's book taught at WSU

THORNTON– Walls of Secrecy, Stories of Prison Life 1971-1981 a book by local author Kelley D. Messinger, 75, of Thornton is being taught in a corrections class at Washington State University.

Messinger’s book is about the history of the Washington State Penitentiary. Messinger didn’t write the book until three years ago, he stated, noting that he served 10 years in prison, “I was wrongfully convicted in the early 1970s,” exonerated by Governor Dixie Lee Ray, Messinger was released.

At the request of Governor Ray the book addresses deviant behavior, and gang behavior within the prison system. The second edition forward is written by Secretary for the Washington State Department of Corrections, Dick Morgan.

“History was happening as I was there,” Messinger said, “There were people getting killed right and left. A lot of suicides that were suspicious looking.”

Messinger explained that in his time there the bike shop ran the penitentiary, “they purposely formed gangs in a prison. We didn’t call them gangs, they were called clubs.”

WSU Professor Mary Stohr, teaches a corrections undergraduate and graduate class off and on, “I used his book in an online class in spring,” she said.

In her criminology class students read the whole book, “it’s really interesting for students. It provides a history of corrections in the state going back to the 1970s,” Stohr said, noting that it is especially interesting for students wanting to go into corrections.

Stohr plans to use Messinger’s book in both her online and seated Spring 2023 class, “Messinger is very honest about his role in it,” she said “The relevance, the powerful nature of his story, and what he thinks we can all learn from it at the end.”

She noted that several students commented from the online class that they learned a lot from the book, “I usually don’t use books twice, but I think I’ll use this another time, because I think it’s worthwhile for students to read for the reasons I just stated.”

Though Messinger stated that the prison system at Washington State Penitentiary has drastically changed he is currently working with Secretary Morgan to get as many incarcerated people enrolled in education programs that stress psychology and sociology.

The 2nd edition of Messinger’s book goes further into the changes he’s trying to make.