Take a Look Inside the Walls of San Quentin Prison during the early years.

In 1926, with the world still licking its wounds from a devastating war, a young man stands at the gates of San Quentin, hesitant at the thought of employment in this grim setting. Then he walks through the gates into the bowels of the prison, where he remains for the next thirty-five years. He soon realizes that insanity reigns in the cell blocks and medieval practices of discipline are still enforced. He dreams of taking the prisoners out of their cells and onto a field playing ball, relieving growing racial tensions—because when men are engaged in sports, skin color disappears in the heat of the game.

“Doing Time is a fascinating and compelling story that reveals the depths of madness, hope and compassion that exist behind the walls of the infamous San Quentin Prison. Athletic Director Dan Coughlin touched the lives of thousands of prisoners through his innovative sports’ programs and his belief that hardened prisoners can be rehabilitated. Today our nation’s failed policies continue to breed violence and recidivism so we can learn a lot from this man’s high standards of human decency.” –Jeff Adachi, San Francisco Public Defender.

About the Author

Author Margery Ada McAleer is the daughter of Lt. Dan Coughlin, Founder of the San Quentin Prison Athletic System, whose life was the inspiration for this story. Having grown up inside the walls from infancy while listening to the bells and whistles, the gray walls of the prison and the gray uniforms of the prisoners are all a part of her life. Margery can still smell the fishy odors of the bay, hear the ten o’clock Taps echoing across the prison at night and the tin plates banging against the iron cell bars on the eve of an execution, keeping the entire prison compound awake until morning. Today, Margery resides in Redding, California while currently working on her memoir, San Quentin Quail, A Girl’s Life in Prison.