Gary Tyler’s Quest for Justice in Louisiana’s Angola Prison

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[For a complementary audio excerpt of Gary Tyler’s book, narrated by Cary Hite, describing the point when Tyler is considering accepting a government plea agreement, and starting life outside Angola, listen here.  Copyright © 2025 by Gary Tyler. Audio excerpt courtesy of Simon & Schuster. Audio read by Cary Hite, from the audiobook Stitching Freedom by Gary Tyler, published by Simon & Schuster Audio, a Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. Used with permission from Simon & Schuster, Inc.]

In 1974, at the age of 16, Gary Tyler, who is African American, and was born in St. Rose Parish, Louisiana, was convicted by an all-white jury of a crime he did not commit:  the murder of a white teenager.  Tyler was sentenced to death.  He was sent to Louisiana’s infamous Angola prison, where he was the youngest person on death row in the United States.  A song by the British reggae band, UB40, titled in his name, “Tyler,” captures the injustice.  

But Gary Tyler survived to tell the tale, and to write a magnificent book about his life experience:  Stitching Freedom:  A True Story of Injustice, Defiance, and Hope in Angola Prison, written with Ellen Bravo, and published by Simon and Schuster.  

Gary Tyler was released from custody in 2016, having spent four decades in prison.  Despite the compelling evidence of his innocence, he has never been exonerated.  We had the honor of recording our discussion with Gary on October 6, the day before his book’s release, and the October 7 anniversary of his arrest, decades later.