August 28, 2024 • 45 mins
Scott Allen Curley is an ex-convict with 9 convictions, who served nearly a decade behind bars. Scott’s life was a roller coaster filled with drugs, abuse, incarceration and homelessness so he’s had many “bad days”! Scott joined us on NightSide to share his story of how he turned his life around upon exiting prison and became a self-made millionaire! If you think you’re having a bad day or a rough patch, Scott has some encouragement for you!
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
It's with Dan Ray. I'm deel you easy, Boston.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All right. Welcome back everybody, Thank you Dan Watkins. As
we move into our third hour tonight on night Side.
Week ago, I guess was a week ago Friday. This
gentleman joined me during the eight o'clock hour, Scott Alan Curly,
and as I talked to him, I felt that his
story needed more time to really understand the triumph of
(00:30):
this guy's life. And I also, you know, we don't
take phone calls in the eight o'clock hour because the
guests are only with us for you know, seven, eight, nine,
ten minutes at most, And so I asked him to
come back, and he's joining us again tonight, Scott, welcome
back to night Side. It seems like it just only
a few days ago we had you here. But tonight
we got a little bit more opportunity to let your
(00:52):
story breathe a little bit. How are you tonight?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
I really appreciate you having me tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, your story is just one of those those amazing
stories of success. So let's start at the beginning. You
spent nearly a decade behind bars. How did you get
on that? What were your circumstances that led to you
making I assume what now in retrospect, you recognize with
(01:19):
some poor decisions.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Very poor decisions. Well okay, well, so since we have
a little bit more time to chat, I'll give you
a little bit more expanded version. Yeah, so that we
can you know, it can have more context. I was
raised in a very dysfunctional family, and it was all
about the exterior. It was all about the image. And
(01:42):
so I've spent my entire childhood trying to mold myself
into being what I thought others wanted me to be,
as opposed to really embracing who I really was. And
I got so good at that that I lost or
lost myself in that in that facade per se. And
(02:04):
and you know, just the struggle between those two dynamics
was pulling at me so hard, and it was something
that I kept very secret. You know, I kept it
to myself. Even my closest the friends were unaware of
the you know, the turmoil. And as as time went on,
(02:26):
and when I got closer to graduating, I felt myself
getting more and more intense tense step meaning that I
felt like something was about to happen inside of me.
But I still still I didn't share that with anyone.
And then I started hanging out with quote unquote the
wrong crowd, which was pretty much all that I needed,
(02:48):
you know. And I say that tongue in cheek, and
eventually things just began to implode.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And where about you grow up?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
I grew up in a little town called Crosby, Texas,
just outside of Houston, northeast of Houston. The first part
of my early life was in Baytown, Texas, and from
there we moved to Crosby, which is just maybe twenty
minutes north of that, and that's where I spent the
majority of my childhood.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Okay, again, I don't want to ask questions that are
too personal, But was your family situation tough or did
you mom and dad you know, were they supportive? Or
did you come out of a family, you know, a
(03:35):
family stead of circumstances that we might characterize or a
psychiatrist might characterize as dysfunctional.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
It was the epitome of dysfunction, no question about it.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Well, you go right to the point. That's what I
like about you. I'm trying to ask questions as kindly
and as as I Then here I'll.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Tell you don't have to. You can. We can be
brutally honest. I wrote the book Absolution, The Dark Path
to Light to to actually expose all of those secrets.
And I did that, you know, for the sake of
freeing myself and also helping others to understand that they
can do the same as well.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So you look like a pretty young guy to me.
So I'm guessing you were born sometime in the eighties.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
I was born in nineteen sixty seven. I appreciate that compliment.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, good for you.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Good for you will get you everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
You're on the right side of fifty. That's good.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah. So, so you you know you did you have
a big family growing up or was it a small group?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
No, it was very small. Actually, I was the only child.
I was adopted into the Curly family. And I will
not say my parents, my adoptive parents. They were not
bad people, yep. I'll say that the problem and the
challenge that they faced is that they just did not
have the training, understanding our history or experience to know
(05:03):
how to raise a child properly. And there's something that
I learned that we can only give as much as
we have to give. And unfortunately they just didn't have
the parenting skills. They weren't given a lot as when
they were when they were with the way that they
were raised, and so.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Were they were they young with a young parent, with
a young parents got they.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Were average age parents. My mother was twenty nine when
I was born and my father would have been thirty
four when I was born, but they didn't adopt me
until they were until I was two years old.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Really really average, you know, average age. It wasn't like
you had a teenage mom or something like that.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Okay, no, not at all.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So was there a point in time when you think
things kind of went off the rails? And I'm wondering
if you're able to isolate that that moment.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yes, And and like I said, this is the whole
point of us chatting, And as I did in my book,
it's brutal honesty because the only way that we can
free ourselves and do better is if we put aside
the facades. And so during our talk tonight, I'll share
some pretty uh you know, I'll be respectful about it,
but I will absolutely tell you the truth.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Growing up in my family was was was very difficult
because my parents were more concerned about the image as
opposed to building, uh, you know, growing and nurturing the
family itself. It was all about how we appeared to
the Joneses. On the outside. We looked like the absolute
perfect family. We were an African American family where my
(06:33):
father was was very well respected in the in the
neighbor in the community we ended. When I was nine
years old, we moved to a neighborhood called Newport that
was primarily predominantly a upper middle class white neighborhood, and
we were one of only maybe four black families in it.
And my father was determined to to kind of be
(06:54):
a step above everyone else. The nicer had a little
bit nicer car than everyone had. They are of the
month very often, you know, we we just I was
pretty much their their their trophy child.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
I would.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
I hate to say, but it's a fact.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
And so my I was raised believing that I had
to earn love and uh and validation. I did not.
I was not taught that it was something that I
would I had, that I should, that I had a
right to just by being a human being.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
Per se.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Let me let me ask you, how did you figure
all of this out? And I know I'm jumping ahead
of the story here, but how did you how did
you figure all? And we're gonna when we get back
from the break, we'll get into the story of of
you know, how the roller coaster started and how you
you went down and you and what you ended up with.
But you've kind of figured this out, You've you've taken
(07:50):
the time to to to figure out what happened. Did
you meet people in prison or were there professionals in
prison who helped you work? How did you figure this out?
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yes, that's a very good question. The fact is I
was blessed to be sent to prison. I was in
and out of jail in prison for between eighty nine
and I'm sorry, between eighty eight and ninety one, probably
forty times. I was probably in jail thirty to forty
times within a three year period. I would come out
on a little short break and go right back in
(08:25):
for something else.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
But the last what we would.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Call what we would call a frequent flyer.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Then I actually got categorized the last time I got
sentenced for a non violent offense, which was for auto
theft to thirty five years in prison. Because I was
categorized at the age of twenty two, a habitual criminal
at twenty two years old, And at that point I
got sentenced to thirty five years, which was the worst
and best thing that ever happened to me, because I
was I was forced to take a real, real look
(08:54):
at myself and at that was that was the point
where I realized that no matter how well I could
taught myself out of things, I wasn't going to be
able to talk myself and we'll wiggle myselself out of
this one. I had to deal with it.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
And the Texas court system in the in the late
eighties early nineties was not a sort of Kumba feel
good experience.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
So no, I was down there in old school, and yeah,
I got sent to some of the I was on
some of the toughest units in Texas. They called one
of them Ferguson the gladiator, gladiator unit where you had
to be able to take care of yourself to survive
down there. But like I said, in hindsight, it may
sound very bizarre to say that it was the best
(09:38):
thing that ever could have happened to me, because to
your point and to your question, I had to go
through a program that was called i PTC. It stands
for in Prison Therapeutic Community and it.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Was the most intense, most rugged, most involved program I've
ever heard of and ever known to be in existence,
and a lot of folks couldn't make it through it.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
It was seven days a week, twelve hours a day
for a full year. And thank God for that program.
That program gave me the opportunity to have a life
of real life and taught me how to manage my
behavior and my feelings. And part of the big, part
of a big reason that many of us get in
(10:21):
trouble is that we have a hard time managing our feelings.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
So my guess is Scott Alan Curley. He's written a
book called Absolution, The Dark Path to Light. I know
that there are people out there who listen to my show, Scott,
who are now behind bars. I get letters from men
and women behind bars all the time. In my own career,
(10:50):
as I think we mentioned the other night, I had
worked on behalf of men who I came to believe
were wrongfully imprisoned for a murder they had nothing to
do with. And I have a lawyer by training and
also by practice, and so I'm always fascinated when someone
like you can literally scrape the bottom of the barrel
(11:12):
and somehow, somehow get up and get back and restore
your independence, your identity, and your integrity, because it's a
tough place to get out of once you get in.
I remember, as an eighteen nineteen year old young kid
playing baseball, we went in to play a prison team
(11:35):
and the guy that pitched against us that day had
been signed by the old Washington Senators, and so I
went out of my way to meet him after the game.
His name was Lefty Gilday, and I said to him,
I said, you know, I was a nineteen year old kid,
and I said, you know you can get out. I
(11:56):
left he you know, you were not a major league player,
but you were a bonus baby. He made some money,
and you're an athlete and you're a good pitcher. And
he probably was thirty five years old at the time.
And I'm nineteen year old, kid, you can get I'll
become a coach or something. And he looked at me
and he said, kid, when I get out, I'm going
to get drunk and rob the bank. And guess what.
I was at Basic Training in Fort Dixon, New Jersey,
(12:18):
in nineteen seventy and he was out. He robbed a
bank and he shot a police officer during that bank
robbery and killed an officer named Schroeder, Walter Schroeder. He
spent the rest of his life in prison. And when
I was working, believe it or not, to show you
how people function when I was working. Now, this is
(12:41):
probably at least I'm trying to time it here, at
least twenty five years later, I walked into the prison
to interview one of the men I was helping to
who I believed in. I was trying to get him
out of prison and left. He was sitting over the
corner and he didn't look hardly anything like I remembered him.
(13:03):
You know. He was saying a left handed picture. His
weight had blown up, and he looked at me and
he said, I struck you out twice. And I said, no, left,
to your lion, you never struck me out. It's just
amazing how the people who find themselves in that situation.
You know, It's like I wanted to be kind to him,
(13:24):
but it was like, no, left, you didn't strike me out.
You couldn't. You couldn't break a pane of glass. I mean,
you're a good picture. Don't get me wrong anyway. I'm
fascinated by people who find themselves in prison. The man
who I work for to get out of prison, he
said to me at one point, he said, how do
you feel, knowing that you had nothing to do with
this crime, that you're truly an innocent person. You're not
(13:46):
like some of the folks in prison who always want
to say they're innocent, but they're really not. And he
said to me, he said, I know the circumstance. I mean,
I have to do the time. I can't let the
time do me.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
That was his. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
And I'll bet you can identify with that phrase. Let's
take a break, Scott. I'm going to invite people to call.
I don't know if they want to call or they
want to listen to us, but I hope some want
to call. Uh. And first of all, congratulate you on
the amazing experience that you have somehow endured and overcome
six seven four ten thirty six one seven nine three
(14:25):
one ten thirty. I also have told you, Scott, I
have lots of people listening in different places around the country,
and whenever I say that, all the calls come in
from from New England area. If you're if you're inspired
by this story. This is a gentleman who has gone
through a lot, and I hope you buy his book.
I do. I hope to get it myself, Absolution The
(14:48):
Dark Path to Light. Where do you hear the rest
of the story. He is now a self made millionaire,
a successful businessman. So this is a guy who not
just got out of prison and is like living life
day to day. He has taken life in overcome obstacles
that you and I never would have ever experienced. Back
(15:09):
on Nightside with Scott Alan Curley the book Absolution The
Dark Path to Light. Right after this.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
My guess is Scott Alan Curley. Scott he is one
one final comment on my time playing. We played inside
of what was called Walpole State Prison, which was the
toughest prison in Massachusetts, and earlier that summer they had
had a riot inside the prison. So we were supposed
to play in July, then we ended up playing in September.
(15:43):
So at one time I bet bat against Lefty. He
plunked me on my left elbow, Okay, hit my pitch.
You know, it didn't hurt because he didn't throw that hard.
So I got down at first base. I'm like, again,
nineteen year old kid. So the first baseman I kind
of to complain to him. I said, man, you know,
so I was kind of play a tough kid, right, which,
(16:04):
of course there is a big mistake. So I said
to the first first basement, big big guy, I said, hey, man,
where'd you get this guy?
Speaker 4 (16:12):
You know?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I said, he is he can't throw hardening, yeah, and
he has no control. The guy turned to me and
he says, hey, look, punk. He said, if you spend
the last six week in solitary confinement, your control wouldn't
be any good either. It was true anyway. So you
(16:34):
talk about this program, I'm wondering if there's anybody within
that program, because I'm a big believer in that all
of us have mentors in life and that at some
point along the line people come along who can change
our lives. Was it just the program or was there
someone in the program that helped you open your eyes?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Well, the program was the people. That's one thing, and
there's one thing that stuck with me and will stick
with me for the rest of my life. That when
I really understood this and internalized this fact, it gave
me a completely different perspective on life. And I'll share
it with you and the listeners.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
Now.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
They taught us that we all make mistakes, but none
of us is a mistake, and and so often in
life and I and I've done it. I did it
my entire childhood. I equated myself with my mistakes. And
when we do that, so oftentimes oftentimes we feel less
than and unworthy and and like we have no value,
(17:32):
and we don't feel like we're deserving of good, wonderful
blessings and good things, and we tend to act accordingly.
And so when I when I was taught that, yes,
we make mistakes, we sometimes make really big mistakes, but
it doesn't mean that we are a mistake. Then when I,
when I really grasped that concept, that was the beginning
(17:53):
of my transition, my mindset shift into a totally different direction.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
That is distinction with a very clear difference. Oftentimes we
used to praise distinction without a difference. Boy, if you
were able to absorb that that thought, how did you
deal with the long nights in prison? I mean, I
would think that the worst part of the day is
when you're in your cell lochdown for the night and
(18:22):
you're alone with your thoughts.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
That's when we start. That's when I really did the
most of my reflecting, and I realized the value of time,
and I made it a point to not waste my
time even though I was in prison. So what I
really tried to do, and I feel that it really
helped me, was I tried to educate myself as much
(18:49):
as I could while I was in prison. Ten years
is a long time. I didn't do it all in
one stretch. I did it over four different times, but
it was still ten years and ten years. But during
that time, I read over a thousand books, I went
through college programs. I did everything I could to be
in it, but not of it, if that makes sense.
(19:11):
I made it a point to not get involved in
any gangs. I didn't. There's so much temptation down there
to get caught up in that penitentiary mentality, in that
penitutuy lifestyle, and the way I carried myself was not
the coolest. I didn't talk the slip, slick hip and
cool slang that is known within the system. I just
(19:33):
made a conscious decision to use that time to prepare
myself for when I got out, because I did believe
that I would get out one day.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So how tough was it to be in that milieu,
in that set of circumstances where a lot of people
will say, hey, in order to get along, you got
to go along because you're not living, you're living in
a different society. How tough was it to have not
only the backbone, but the courage to deal with that system?
(20:04):
Because I'm sure that there were people who either wanted
to recruit you to a gang, and when you resisted,
they probably wanted to teach you a lesson of why
you should be a member of the gang. Am I
right or wrong on that?
Speaker 3 (20:17):
You're right?
Speaker 4 (20:18):
And I'm going to give away a part of my book.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
It is.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
It's funny and it's embarrassing, but i will share this.
So one thing that you cannot do in prison and
if you want to survive, is to not stand up
for yourself. And I'll be the first hit it. When
I was down there in my early twenties, I'm a
light skinned guy, I had real curly hair. They considered
me a quote unquote pretty boy, which I had all
(20:45):
that works against you in prison. It works well with
the girls when I was you know, out, but it
didn't work so well in prison.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Right so, but a roommate is what you're telling me.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Right yeah, so so. And I had a fear of
losing my teeth. There are a lot of people in
prison who have missing teeth, and they don't have the dentists.
They don't replace them, they don't give you false teeth.
And I was absolutely determined to not put myself in
a position where I got my teeth knocked out or
something like that. So here's the funny story. I'll give
(21:16):
it to these throuper quick, Thank god, Lester Curly. My
father was tough as nails. He was like he carried himself,
sort of like Malcolm X. And when when I was younger,
he taught me to box. He taught me to box
the right way, and he would be very hard on me,
and to the point where it was probably these days
it might even be a borderline illegal. But I did
(21:39):
understand the fundamentals of how to use my hands. So
there was a time, and I'll give you a very
short funny story, but it's what kept me going. It
kept me out of trouble per se, as far as
having to do a lot of fighting the whole time
I was in prison. So I was in on the unit.
I just hit this really tough unit called Ferguson, and
I had on some Jordan's and that's sort of like
(22:01):
a status symbol when you were in prison back then,
the only thing you have are your shoes, and if
the nicer your shoes are, the more status you have
amongst the other prisoners. Well, well, this guy approached me,
and I'll be the first to admit now, as I
felt then, I was scared to death. I will not
lie and say that I wasn't scared. I was absolutely
(22:22):
terrified to be in prison, especially on that unit, and
I was very afraid of getting hurt. So but I
did remember what my father taught me. And this guy
was approaching me, and my dad always said, if it's
going to go down, it's got to go down on
your terms. So the guy approached me and was in
the process I could tell of aggressively coming at me
(22:44):
because he was interested in my tennis shoes. Because he
mentioned it, I heard him, overheard him, and when he
approached me, I just by instinct hit him as hard
as I could with my left hand. And this is
nothing to boast about. It's just a funny story in hindsight.
And the guy was about two sixty. I was about
one ninety. But I hit him just in the right spot,
(23:05):
knocked him out. And now said that to say, I
was scared to death because, oh my god, I was
praying to God that he would wake up and please
don't die or don't being hurt, because now I'm gonna
get even more time. I'll never get out of prison. Right,
Thank god, he got up, Everything was okay, shook it off.
But that got me a nickname. And oh my god,
before I tell you the nickname, I'm gonna tell you.
In prison, everybody has the cool nicknames, hipping, slim, jazzy, red, Colorado, black, smooth,
(23:33):
all that stuff. Well, guess what they called me. They
called me. They called me froggy. They called me froggy
because they said I jumped like a frog and.
Speaker 7 (23:45):
They said, yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, can I have
a better nickname than froggy? And but it was it
was actually a show of respect because they were like,
don't mess with that dude. He's froggy, he'll jump.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah, well, yes, you you you you were you did
You didn't want to punch the guy. You didn't sucker
punch the guy, because the sucker punch is when the
guys doesn't see it coming, he's sward coming. But but
you knew, you knew you better to strike first.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
I had to.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
And yeah, that was the one and only physical altercation
I ever got into in the entire time I was
in prison. And although I had the stupidest nickname and
I could never say kid it was, there was a
bit of respect that went with it. And that was
the only issue I ever had in prison with.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Word got around. Word got around. He wanted your kicks,
and uh.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
You don't mess with a scared man. They're the most anxious.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
All right, Uh, we got to take a quick news
break here. My guest is Scott Alan Curley. I want
to talk about your time out and what you said,
what you have done. We now know what you overcame,
but I want to talk about your triumphs. And again
I would love folks, particularly folks who have spent time
in a set of circumstances, and I have many listeners
(25:05):
in that situation feel free to join the conversation. I
think that it's very important to make people understand that
if you do make a mistake, and you pay your
debt to society and you come out and you can
get past that mistake, as the guest has, there's a
there's a tremendous amount of respect that should be rendered
(25:27):
by those of us who have never known what it
was like to be incarcerated. My name is Dan Ray.
This is night Side six one seven, two, five, four
ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
My guest is Scott Alan Curley, his book Absolution, The
Dark Path to Life. He is forty seven years old.
If I'm doing my math correctly, Uh. He has spent
(25:48):
ten years of his life inside of tough prisons. He
got off that roller coaster. He has overcome drugs, prison, sobriety, determination, relapse, homelessness,
and ultimately absolution. Uh. And he is now a millionaire
and an entrepreneur, a successful businessman, an incredible story. Back
on night.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Side, night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
I guess is Scott Alan Curley his book Absolution, The
Dark Path to Light. Scott, what year did you get
out of prison. Finally you hit you hit the joints
at sometime in the late eighties. When was When was
the day you walked out for the last time.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
Last time I walked out was in two thousand and one.
I was back on a parle violation. And I do
have to clarify, as much as I would like to
own the age forty seven, I'm actually fifty seven. I
was born in nineteen sixty seven.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Okay, you know my math. My math has failed me there, Okay, okay,
that's okay, okay, Well that's good instead of having a
you know, twenty five percent. Okay, no, thank you for that,
for that correction, no problem. Let's I want to work
phone calls in here, but I also want to complete
the story. Let me let me grab a couple of
calls and we'll complete the story here. I got Jeff
(27:07):
in Brockton. Jeff, you're first. I'm going to get you
on here real quickly. With Scott Allen.
Speaker 5 (27:16):
How are you man? I got I got to see. Congratulations.
I am still on the path. I I got out
of prison seven years ago, and this is the first
time in my life I've haven't made an effort to
stay out.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
I'm allow wonderful work.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
I work two jobs full time. You know, I'm like
I said, I'm still on the path. I've dealt with homelessness,
you know, substance abuse, hurole violations. You know. I'm tempted
to do something stupid every every day, and if it's
you know, I just keep my head down, keep pushing
forward with work work. Why you know, I know what
(27:55):
you will. You have overcome so up, what much respect.
I haven't read your book yet. I'm just looking at
the Dan ray Am. I right home like I do
every night, and I'm definitely gonna be picking up your book.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Man. Congratulations, Thank you sir. Let me share just a
real quick tidbit with you, because I love and appreciate
that you called in and love your brother. I would recommend,
whenever you think about doing something that's not the best,
that may not be the best decision, because I think
about it every day all day as well, just apply
what I call the ten second rules before you do anything.
(28:31):
Just pause, breathe, and just take ten seconds ten seconds
before you make any sort of decision. And there's a
very good chance that if you just wait ten seconds
before you make that decision that your emotions are telling
you that you should make you more than likely will
not make that poor decision just takes ten seconds.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
I'm gonna do just that.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Hey, Jeff, thank you for being a loyal nightside listener.
Congratulations to you. If you're in the midst of a
fight or you're gonna going to overcome it. And if
I can ever.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Be for anybody with a criminal record, I'm sorry, I
could not hear that. I said. The discrimination is real
out here for anybody with a criminal record.
Speaker 8 (29:16):
It is.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
That just means we have to fight a little harder.
That's all I got.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Lucky. A guy gave me a chance and I and
I'm making the best of it.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
You know, man, you're proud.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Thank you. Congratulations, stay out right.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Back at you. Congratulations, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (29:35):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
That's that's a guy who's listening every night. Let me
go to Marty and Florida and Saint Augustine, Florida. Marty,
you're on with my guest Scott Alan, Curly Scott. I
will tell you this is a former police officer, former
New York City police officer.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
But I suspect ahead.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
I went on in nineteen seventy I got promoted to
sergeant in nineteen eighty five. I retired in nineteen ninety.
Let me just tell you something. First of all, like
a a friend of mine in Long Island who was
mentoring a felon, and it's certainly he had an argument
with his girlfriend and he's tried to choke her. And
they made a new law in New York called criminal strangulation,
(30:21):
which is a felony. So this guy became a felon,
and he's the nicest guy in the world. And when
I go to New York to visit him, I say
his name is Michael. I said, Mike, you're a felon,
but you're not a crook. Okay, that's number one. Number
two Martha Stewart is a felon, and I couldn't afford
to live next to her for a pispic. I what
you call it insider trading? Okay, number three. A few
(30:45):
years ago in Florida, they had Proposition four. Well, they
want to give felons, except if you're a sexual violator
or murderer, they want to give you back the right
to vote. I voted yes. The Republican Party said vote no.
And now felon's can just walk in and vote as
long as they are paid up all all their dues whatever. Okay,
(31:05):
and I do agree. One thing I don't like is,
and this has nothing to do with the felons, but
when you come out of prison or whatever your felon,
it's like you might as well be dead because it's
supposedly hard to get a job. And that I think
that there are a lot of people out there, Goodie
good He's who I hate. I love felons and I
love homeless people. My next door neighbor was a skinhead
(31:27):
in California. He did eight years in prison, shot up
a bar, and now he's working in the local his
His only problem is he's a drinker, but he's working
in the local hospital. He's very proud of his job,
and his family has a key to my house. So
I tell people, felon doesn't mean a crook, right, And
we were appreciated When I was in New York during
(31:50):
the before I retired, a life sentence in New York
was usually about eight years, and that's ridiculous. But I've
met people in screed who said, well, I serve time
for manslaughter. I killed an FBI agent. I don't like
when people braggs. But I totally support your guests, and
I want to thank him and everybody out there. I'm
(32:12):
going to tell you right now I would hire a
fellon in a minute, but I don't like to hire drunks.
So he knows somebody that's a fella, and give the
guy a break because he's trying to make something that.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
It all right, mighty, Thank you man. We'll talk soon, Okay,
thanks Welby show.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
Thank you, Rody.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
You can tell from Marty he's in New York and
he's got that classic New York accent. Let me go
to Sherry out Sherry in Houston, Texas. Erry, I suspect
that you may be a friend of our guest if
you're a regular listener to Night Side. Welcome either way,
go right ahead, Sherry.
Speaker 7 (32:43):
This is my first time. Hi Scott, it's your classmate,
Sherry Morgan. And oh and I wanted to call in.
I know me and some of our other classmates are listening,
but I wanted to call in and personally, I just
want to tell you Scott. You know, we went to
(33:04):
school together. We we we've.
Speaker 6 (33:07):
Been through a lot.
Speaker 7 (33:09):
Uh, we've probably seen each other at our words our best.
We've all gone through things and since graduating from high school,
all of us, we've all gone in different directions. And
the truth is, we all have a story.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (33:21):
I have your book, and the truth is I've read
just a couple of pages. I haven't read all of it,
and and.
Speaker 6 (33:30):
I'm going to.
Speaker 7 (33:31):
But I just want to let you know that, in
spite of all that you've been through, Uh, I'm proud
of you because it's like you say, you know, turn
lemons into lemonade. Uh, that's what you've done. I looked
at you at the at at our last class of union,
and I thought, I mean, I just the things that
(33:53):
you've accomplished. You didn't let the things get the best
of you, and even when you were down, but look
where you are now. Uh. And I'm just thankful to
God that that you are doing great things. And I
pray that you continue to do great things and uh,
just reaching out telling your story, helping other people. But
(34:16):
you know, as your classmate, I know, I'm I'm proud
of you so much.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Thank you so much, Scherry, and I love you, and
I'm proud to be proud to call you my friend.
I have to say something real quick about. Sherry said,
I'm gonna go ahead and put her out there since
she called Cherry was my friend in school that she
didn't know it, but she lit up my day almost
every day. Because Sherry, I could do almost anything and
make it she. I could make her laugh and see
that she had the most infectious natural laugh. And even
(34:42):
when I was down, I would just do something stupid
and Cherry would just giggle and laugh. And I get
her in trouble, and she and I get in trouble.
But it was worth it because it was so much
joy to us.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Yes, it was.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
Yes, So I have so much love for Sarry. Thank you,
thank you for that, Sherry.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Thanks, thank you for ca And you said first time calling.
We always get first time callers a round of the
calls here on night side. So I don't know if
you've ever listened before. I suspect that probably you knew.
You knew Scott was going to be on, but I hope.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
I did Facebook post and I said, you know, another classmate,
I said, look, I was going to call in socheck check.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
In every once in a while. We did a lot
of interesting shows up here, and uh, we have a
lot of listeners in Texas believe it or not to
listen to us regularly.
Speaker 6 (35:26):
Thanks, thank you, Okay, thank you, Scott.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Bye, this is great.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Look, Scott, I got to take one final quick break.
I do want to talk about your success. And we
got a bunch of calls as well, and we'll try
to get them in as well, but we'll get it
all none by eleven. I promise. That's what we do
here every night. All right, my guest to Scott Allen
Curly the book Absolution, The Dark Path to Life. This
is one I think you want to get, folks. Okay,
(35:54):
we I believe in this gentleman, and I hope you
can hear in his voice the ring of truth and integrity.
And he has been there and got back and not
many people do that, but he he set an example.
We'll be back on Nightside. We got a couple of
lines open six one, seven, nine, six, seven, ten thirty.
(36:15):
Coming right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Night Saint Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Unfortunately, this hour's moving too quickly. Scott Alan Curley is
my guest. Scott spent time. He's fifty seven, young man
as far as I'm Concerned, spent ten years over a
period at various periods of time in prison, and is
now a self made millionaire of his book Absolution The
Dark Path to Light. What did you do once you
get out in two thousand and one for the final time?
(36:48):
What what? What career path have you followed? Which one
allowed you to succeed and also allowed you to accumulate wealth? Well?
Speaker 4 (36:58):
I started, I started doing what I'd been doing all along,
but I just started doing it legally. I started I
was working, started working in sales. So when I was in,
when I was out in the streets hustling and doing
all the bad things. Uh, the way that I got
what I wanted was by talking myself into getting people
(37:18):
to give me what I wanted. And some people could
call it being a con artist or or whatever, but
I did have thanks to Annie Curley, my mother, she
required She forced me to speak good, proper English and
and to be a strong communicator. And so when I
got out, I just started I had that natural skill
(37:39):
set and I just started using it in the professional world.
And I realized pretty quickly that I had a knack
for sales. And so that's that was my first Uh,
professional type position.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
So what type of sales were you involved in.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
I had the worst, the worst sales job. I was
working for a company that that UH sold. It was
retention sales. Back in the day, this was in the
early two thousands, they used to have these credit card
enhancement programs where UH these credit card companies, and I
feel like it was a scam. In fact, I'm pretty
sure that it was where they would they would have
(38:14):
h on they would have you sign up for these
quote unquote programs for dental benefits and dining benefits and
all that, and and you and people would be paying
for it not know it, and then after three or
four months they would notice it on their bill and
then they would charge. They would call the cut that
number on the back of the card and cuss out
whoever they get on the phone. And my job was
(38:36):
to take take that take that call and somehow convinced
them to keep the program.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Okay, so I'm a millionaire doing that. How'd you how'd
you how'd you accumulate wealth?
Speaker 4 (38:48):
Well? Well that was my that was how I cut
my teeth. And you know how I realized that I
that I had a knack for sales. But then I
got into the tax resolution in sales, and and uh,
you know, we don't have enough time to really get
into how it all happened. But okay, but but the
short of it is that the conversation and having the
(39:08):
ability to effectively communicate will open all sorts of doors
for you and I.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
That's what is as simple as that.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
I just talk and and and it it opens so
many doors. And and uh, I want to I know
we don't have much time, but to to your point
when you ask, how did I get to where I'm
where I am and where I hope to continue to
go because I feel like I still have a lot
more work to do. People tend to misunderstand and and
(39:39):
misconstrue the difference between barriers and obstacles. A barrier is
something that you cannot get through. You can't penetrate it,
you can't get over it, you can't get under it,
you can't get around it. An obstacle, on the other hand,
is something that you can get around and you can
get over and you can get through it. The problem
that many of us are let me rephrase that, the
challenge that many of us spaces that we confuse barriers
(40:01):
with obstacles. In many cases, some of us, we're all
guilty of it, will encounter a difficult situation and we
will perceive it as being a barrier, and in many
cases we'll stop trying to push forward. But in most
cases that perceived barrier is actually just an obstacle. The
world in general is filled with obstacles. There's one obstacle
(40:26):
after another, but it doesn't really have a whole lot
of barriers.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Though.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
There are a lot of perceived barriers, But those perceived
barriers are actually not barriers, They're just obstacles.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
That is a great philosophy. I got a couple more
calls I want to get in. One is from Houston.
We're going to take first, LeAnn, who's calling from Massachusetts, Attleborough, Massachusetts. Leanne,
I know you've been waiting a little bit, but I'll
ask you to be quick so we can get one
more person in from Houston. Go ahead, Leanne.
Speaker 9 (40:52):
Hello, good to talk to you Dan and Scott. First, Scott,
thank you for being the inspiration that you are both
to the incarceration those on the outside, because success stories
such of you as yours are few and far between.
As you know, I have a question about the title
of your book, Absolution the Dark Path to Light. Since
(41:15):
absolution means forgiveness of sins, I'm curious as to whether
you attribute any of your success and soundness of mind
to a faith based experience or a relationship with God
or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
All right, go ahead, Scott, all the above.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
There's no way that I could ever be where I
am now if I weren't a able to forgive myself
and be able to forgive the people that hurt me.
And so that is the short, short answer to that question.
Carry around carrying that burden of non forgiveness is very
(41:57):
very heavy. It's very heavy and a weigh down. And
so when I was able to forgive myself first of all,
and then forgive others who harmed me, and I pray
that they forgive and ask for forgiveness that they forget
you know me as well, then that paved the way
for me to be able to do all sorts of
wonderful things.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Leanne, great question. I want to get one more in.
Thanks Lee, And that's an excellent question. And I should
have I should have thought of that one myself.
Speaker 9 (42:23):
Thank you, all right, thank you, good night.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Let me go back to Houston. Keith is in Houston, Keith,
you were on with Scott Allen Curley go right ahead
on WBZ and Boston Keith, go right ahead.
Speaker 8 (42:34):
Hey Dan, you're from one of my favorite cities on
Protectas I grew up with Scott, I just wanted to
pass along something real quick. We're longtime friends, Yes, we're are.
His story, his story is real. And I remember going
to his house and hanging out with his parents, Lester
and Annie Curly. And what was interesting was, now that
(42:58):
I think back on it, how accommodating and loving they
were to the friends and me, and they welcomed us,
wanted us to hang out. She would ask me if
she could cook me anything. And it was a long
long time before I realizing. Me and Scott talked and
(43:22):
he confided in me different things that it had happened
in his life that I didn't even know back back
at that time. So my point is is that you
never know what people are going through. It's easy to
make a judgment about a family or people and friends
or whoever it may be, but you really don't know
a lot of times. And Scott's story, you know, it
(43:46):
took control of me and him we're in our fifties
to finally reveal and tell me about a lot of this.
So it's just an interesting part of life and it's
taught me life lessons up until this day. Yes, Scott's
story is part of that. And even even though I
knew his family well I thought I did. We hung
out together and did a lot of things together and
(44:08):
had a lot of life experiences together. But you never
know really what people are going through.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Absolutely, Keith, Keith, I'm flat out of time, so I
got to let you go. But I hope you'll continue
to listen to my show. We do a variety of
issues up here, and I think you have a better
sense of what this show is all about having listened tonight.
Thank you for listening, all right, Keith got Thank you
Keith Scott, Alan Curley a great hour. Absolution The Dark
(44:36):
Path to Light. The book is available and Amazon, I
assume everywhere.
Speaker 4 (44:42):
Right Amazon, you can buy it in barns and now
will go to any anywhere books are sold, either online
or in stores. You can find it. If it's not
in the bookstore, so just go to the front count
and make an order for you to have it for
you the next day.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
Sounds great, Scott Alan Curley, I hope to meet you
someday if I get down your way, you get up
to way. You are an inspiration and I feel I
know you have to have spent an hour with you,
and you're an extraordinary person. Thank you so much for being.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
I really appreciate you. Dan, you have a wonderful rest
of your evening. And to your listeners, I thank them
all and God bless all of you. Guys.
Speaker 2 (45:16):
Right back at you, well we come back. We got
one more hour to go. Right after the eleven o'clock
news here on night Side on a Wednesday night,
It's with Dan Ray. I'm deel you easy, Boston.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
All right. Welcome back everybody, Thank you Dan Watkins. As
we move into our third hour tonight on night Side.
Week ago, I guess was a week ago Friday. This
gentleman joined me during the eight o'clock hour, Scott Alan Curly,
and as I talked to him, I felt that his
story needed more time to really understand the triumph of
(00:30):
this guy's life. And I also, you know, we don't
take phone calls in the eight o'clock hour because the
guests are only with us for you know, seven, eight, nine,
ten minutes at most, And so I asked him to
come back, and he's joining us again tonight, Scott, welcome
back to night Side. It seems like it just only
a few days ago we had you here. But tonight
we got a little bit more opportunity to let your
(00:52):
story breathe a little bit. How are you tonight?
Speaker 3 (00:54):
I'm doing great.
Speaker 4 (00:55):
I really appreciate you having me tonight.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Well, your story is just one of those those amazing
stories of success. So let's start at the beginning. You
spent nearly a decade behind bars. How did you get
on that? What were your circumstances that led to you
making I assume what now in retrospect, you recognize with
(01:19):
some poor decisions.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
Very poor decisions. Well okay, well, so since we have
a little bit more time to chat, I'll give you
a little bit more expanded version. Yeah, so that we
can you know, it can have more context. I was
raised in a very dysfunctional family, and it was all
about the exterior. It was all about the image. And
(01:42):
so I've spent my entire childhood trying to mold myself
into being what I thought others wanted me to be,
as opposed to really embracing who I really was. And
I got so good at that that I lost or
lost myself in that in that facade per se. And
(02:04):
and you know, just the struggle between those two dynamics
was pulling at me so hard, and it was something
that I kept very secret. You know, I kept it
to myself. Even my closest the friends were unaware of
the you know, the turmoil. And as as time went on,
(02:26):
and when I got closer to graduating, I felt myself
getting more and more intense tense step meaning that I
felt like something was about to happen inside of me.
But I still still I didn't share that with anyone.
And then I started hanging out with quote unquote the
wrong crowd, which was pretty much all that I needed,
(02:48):
you know. And I say that tongue in cheek, and
eventually things just began to implode.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
And where about you grow up?
Speaker 4 (02:58):
I grew up in a little town called Crosby, Texas,
just outside of Houston, northeast of Houston. The first part
of my early life was in Baytown, Texas, and from
there we moved to Crosby, which is just maybe twenty
minutes north of that, and that's where I spent the
majority of my childhood.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Okay, again, I don't want to ask questions that are
too personal, But was your family situation tough or did
you mom and dad you know, were they supportive? Or
did you come out of a family, you know, a
(03:35):
family stead of circumstances that we might characterize or a
psychiatrist might characterize as dysfunctional.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
It was the epitome of dysfunction, no question about it.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Well, you go right to the point. That's what I
like about you. I'm trying to ask questions as kindly
and as as I Then here I'll.
Speaker 4 (03:53):
Tell you don't have to. You can. We can be
brutally honest. I wrote the book Absolution, The Dark Path
to Light to to actually expose all of those secrets.
And I did that, you know, for the sake of
freeing myself and also helping others to understand that they
can do the same as well.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So you look like a pretty young guy to me.
So I'm guessing you were born sometime in the eighties.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
I was born in nineteen sixty seven. I appreciate that compliment.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
Yeah, good for you.
Speaker 5 (04:19):
Good for you will get you everywhere.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
You're on the right side of fifty. That's good.
Speaker 4 (04:26):
Well, thank you.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
Yeah. So, so you you know you did you have
a big family growing up or was it a small group?
Speaker 4 (04:38):
No, it was very small. Actually, I was the only child.
I was adopted into the Curly family. And I will
not say my parents, my adoptive parents. They were not
bad people, yep. I'll say that the problem and the
challenge that they faced is that they just did not
have the training, understanding our history or experience to know
(05:03):
how to raise a child properly. And there's something that
I learned that we can only give as much as
we have to give. And unfortunately they just didn't have
the parenting skills. They weren't given a lot as when
they were when they were with the way that they
were raised, and so.
Speaker 2 (05:20):
Were they were they young with a young parent, with
a young parents got they.
Speaker 4 (05:24):
Were average age parents. My mother was twenty nine when
I was born and my father would have been thirty
four when I was born, but they didn't adopt me
until they were until I was two years old.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Really really average, you know, average age. It wasn't like
you had a teenage mom or something like that.
Speaker 4 (05:39):
Okay, no, not at all.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
So was there a point in time when you think
things kind of went off the rails? And I'm wondering
if you're able to isolate that that moment.
Speaker 4 (05:51):
Yes, And and like I said, this is the whole
point of us chatting, And as I did in my book,
it's brutal honesty because the only way that we can
free ourselves and do better is if we put aside
the facades. And so during our talk tonight, I'll share
some pretty uh you know, I'll be respectful about it,
but I will absolutely tell you the truth.
Speaker 2 (06:12):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (06:12):
Growing up in my family was was was very difficult
because my parents were more concerned about the image as
opposed to building, uh, you know, growing and nurturing the
family itself. It was all about how we appeared to
the Joneses. On the outside. We looked like the absolute
perfect family. We were an African American family where my
(06:33):
father was was very well respected in the in the
neighbor in the community we ended. When I was nine
years old, we moved to a neighborhood called Newport that
was primarily predominantly a upper middle class white neighborhood, and
we were one of only maybe four black families in it.
And my father was determined to to kind of be
(06:54):
a step above everyone else. The nicer had a little
bit nicer car than everyone had. They are of the
month very often, you know, we we just I was
pretty much their their their trophy child.
Speaker 6 (07:07):
I would.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
I hate to say, but it's a fact.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Uh.
Speaker 4 (07:10):
And so my I was raised believing that I had
to earn love and uh and validation. I did not.
I was not taught that it was something that I
would I had, that I should, that I had a
right to just by being a human being.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
Per se.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Let me let me ask you, how did you figure
all of this out? And I know I'm jumping ahead
of the story here, but how did you how did
you figure all? And we're gonna when we get back
from the break, we'll get into the story of of
you know, how the roller coaster started and how you
you went down and you and what you ended up with.
But you've kind of figured this out, You've you've taken
(07:50):
the time to to to figure out what happened. Did
you meet people in prison or were there professionals in
prison who helped you work? How did you figure this out?
Speaker 4 (08:02):
Yes, that's a very good question. The fact is I
was blessed to be sent to prison. I was in
and out of jail in prison for between eighty nine
and I'm sorry, between eighty eight and ninety one, probably
forty times. I was probably in jail thirty to forty
times within a three year period. I would come out
on a little short break and go right back in
(08:25):
for something else.
Speaker 5 (08:27):
But the last what we would.
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Call what we would call a frequent flyer.
Speaker 4 (08:33):
Then I actually got categorized the last time I got
sentenced for a non violent offense, which was for auto
theft to thirty five years in prison. Because I was
categorized at the age of twenty two, a habitual criminal
at twenty two years old, And at that point I
got sentenced to thirty five years, which was the worst
and best thing that ever happened to me, because I
was I was forced to take a real, real look
(08:54):
at myself and at that was that was the point
where I realized that no matter how well I could
taught myself out of things, I wasn't going to be
able to talk myself and we'll wiggle myselself out of
this one. I had to deal with it.
Speaker 2 (09:08):
And the Texas court system in the in the late
eighties early nineties was not a sort of Kumba feel
good experience.
Speaker 4 (09:16):
So no, I was down there in old school, and yeah,
I got sent to some of the I was on
some of the toughest units in Texas. They called one
of them Ferguson the gladiator, gladiator unit where you had
to be able to take care of yourself to survive
down there. But like I said, in hindsight, it may
sound very bizarre to say that it was the best
(09:38):
thing that ever could have happened to me, because to
your point and to your question, I had to go
through a program that was called i PTC. It stands
for in Prison Therapeutic Community and it.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Was the most intense, most rugged, most involved program I've
ever heard of and ever known to be in existence,
and a lot of folks couldn't make it through it.
Speaker 4 (10:00):
It was seven days a week, twelve hours a day
for a full year. And thank God for that program.
That program gave me the opportunity to have a life
of real life and taught me how to manage my
behavior and my feelings. And part of the big, part
of a big reason that many of us get in
(10:21):
trouble is that we have a hard time managing our feelings.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
So my guess is Scott Alan Curley. He's written a
book called Absolution, The Dark Path to Light. I know
that there are people out there who listen to my show, Scott,
who are now behind bars. I get letters from men
and women behind bars all the time. In my own career,
(10:50):
as I think we mentioned the other night, I had
worked on behalf of men who I came to believe
were wrongfully imprisoned for a murder they had nothing to
do with. And I have a lawyer by training and
also by practice, and so I'm always fascinated when someone
like you can literally scrape the bottom of the barrel
(11:12):
and somehow, somehow get up and get back and restore
your independence, your identity, and your integrity, because it's a
tough place to get out of once you get in.
I remember, as an eighteen nineteen year old young kid
playing baseball, we went in to play a prison team
(11:35):
and the guy that pitched against us that day had
been signed by the old Washington Senators, and so I
went out of my way to meet him after the game.
His name was Lefty Gilday, and I said to him,
I said, you know, I was a nineteen year old kid,
and I said, you know you can get out. I
(11:56):
left he you know, you were not a major league player,
but you were a bonus baby. He made some money,
and you're an athlete and you're a good pitcher. And
he probably was thirty five years old at the time.
And I'm nineteen year old, kid, you can get I'll
become a coach or something. And he looked at me
and he said, kid, when I get out, I'm going
to get drunk and rob the bank. And guess what.
I was at Basic Training in Fort Dixon, New Jersey,
(12:18):
in nineteen seventy and he was out. He robbed a
bank and he shot a police officer during that bank
robbery and killed an officer named Schroeder, Walter Schroeder. He
spent the rest of his life in prison. And when
I was working, believe it or not, to show you
how people function when I was working. Now, this is
(12:41):
probably at least I'm trying to time it here, at
least twenty five years later, I walked into the prison
to interview one of the men I was helping to
who I believed in. I was trying to get him
out of prison and left. He was sitting over the
corner and he didn't look hardly anything like I remembered him.
(13:03):
You know. He was saying a left handed picture. His
weight had blown up, and he looked at me and
he said, I struck you out twice. And I said, no, left,
to your lion, you never struck me out. It's just
amazing how the people who find themselves in that situation.
You know, It's like I wanted to be kind to him,
(13:24):
but it was like, no, left, you didn't strike me out.
You couldn't. You couldn't break a pane of glass. I mean,
you're a good picture. Don't get me wrong anyway. I'm
fascinated by people who find themselves in prison. The man
who I work for to get out of prison, he
said to me at one point, he said, how do
you feel, knowing that you had nothing to do with
this crime, that you're truly an innocent person. You're not
(13:46):
like some of the folks in prison who always want
to say they're innocent, but they're really not. And he
said to me, he said, I know the circumstance. I mean,
I have to do the time. I can't let the
time do me.
Speaker 4 (13:59):
That was his. That's right, that's right.
Speaker 2 (14:02):
And I'll bet you can identify with that phrase. Let's
take a break, Scott. I'm going to invite people to call.
I don't know if they want to call or they
want to listen to us, but I hope some want
to call. Uh. And first of all, congratulate you on
the amazing experience that you have somehow endured and overcome
six seven four ten thirty six one seven nine three
(14:25):
one ten thirty. I also have told you, Scott, I
have lots of people listening in different places around the country,
and whenever I say that, all the calls come in
from from New England area. If you're if you're inspired
by this story. This is a gentleman who has gone
through a lot, and I hope you buy his book.
I do. I hope to get it myself, Absolution The
(14:48):
Dark Path to Light. Where do you hear the rest
of the story. He is now a self made millionaire,
a successful businessman. So this is a guy who not
just got out of prison and is like living life
day to day. He has taken life in overcome obstacles
that you and I never would have ever experienced. Back
(15:09):
on Nightside with Scott Alan Curley the book Absolution The
Dark Path to Light. Right after this.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (15:22):
My guess is Scott Alan Curley. Scott he is one
one final comment on my time playing. We played inside
of what was called Walpole State Prison, which was the
toughest prison in Massachusetts, and earlier that summer they had
had a riot inside the prison. So we were supposed
to play in July, then we ended up playing in September.
(15:43):
So at one time I bet bat against Lefty. He
plunked me on my left elbow, Okay, hit my pitch.
You know, it didn't hurt because he didn't throw that hard.
So I got down at first base. I'm like, again,
nineteen year old kid. So the first baseman I kind
of to complain to him. I said, man, you know,
so I was kind of play a tough kid, right, which,
(16:04):
of course there is a big mistake. So I said
to the first first basement, big big guy, I said, hey, man,
where'd you get this guy?
Speaker 4 (16:12):
You know?
Speaker 2 (16:12):
I said, he is he can't throw hardening, yeah, and
he has no control. The guy turned to me and
he says, hey, look, punk. He said, if you spend
the last six week in solitary confinement, your control wouldn't
be any good either. It was true anyway. So you
(16:34):
talk about this program, I'm wondering if there's anybody within
that program, because I'm a big believer in that all
of us have mentors in life and that at some
point along the line people come along who can change
our lives. Was it just the program or was there
someone in the program that helped you open your eyes?
Speaker 4 (16:51):
Well, the program was the people. That's one thing, and
there's one thing that stuck with me and will stick
with me for the rest of my life. That when
I really understood this and internalized this fact, it gave
me a completely different perspective on life. And I'll share
it with you and the listeners.
Speaker 6 (17:08):
Now.
Speaker 4 (17:09):
They taught us that we all make mistakes, but none
of us is a mistake, and and so often in
life and I and I've done it. I did it
my entire childhood. I equated myself with my mistakes. And
when we do that, so oftentimes oftentimes we feel less
than and unworthy and and like we have no value,
(17:32):
and we don't feel like we're deserving of good, wonderful
blessings and good things, and we tend to act accordingly.
And so when I when I was taught that, yes,
we make mistakes, we sometimes make really big mistakes, but
it doesn't mean that we are a mistake. Then when I,
when I really grasped that concept, that was the beginning
(17:53):
of my transition, my mindset shift into a totally different direction.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
That is distinction with a very clear difference. Oftentimes we
used to praise distinction without a difference. Boy, if you
were able to absorb that that thought, how did you
deal with the long nights in prison? I mean, I
would think that the worst part of the day is
when you're in your cell lochdown for the night and
(18:22):
you're alone with your thoughts.
Speaker 4 (18:26):
That's when we start. That's when I really did the
most of my reflecting, and I realized the value of time,
and I made it a point to not waste my
time even though I was in prison. So what I
really tried to do, and I feel that it really
helped me, was I tried to educate myself as much
(18:49):
as I could while I was in prison. Ten years
is a long time. I didn't do it all in
one stretch. I did it over four different times, but
it was still ten years and ten years. But during
that time, I read over a thousand books, I went
through college programs. I did everything I could to be
in it, but not of it, if that makes sense.
(19:11):
I made it a point to not get involved in
any gangs. I didn't. There's so much temptation down there
to get caught up in that penitentiary mentality, in that
penitutuy lifestyle, and the way I carried myself was not
the coolest. I didn't talk the slip, slick hip and
cool slang that is known within the system. I just
(19:33):
made a conscious decision to use that time to prepare
myself for when I got out, because I did believe
that I would get out one day.
Speaker 2 (19:42):
So how tough was it to be in that milieu,
in that set of circumstances where a lot of people
will say, hey, in order to get along, you got
to go along because you're not living, you're living in
a different society. How tough was it to have not
only the backbone, but the courage to deal with that system?
(20:04):
Because I'm sure that there were people who either wanted
to recruit you to a gang, and when you resisted,
they probably wanted to teach you a lesson of why
you should be a member of the gang. Am I
right or wrong on that?
Speaker 3 (20:17):
You're right?
Speaker 4 (20:18):
And I'm going to give away a part of my book.
Speaker 2 (20:21):
It is.
Speaker 4 (20:22):
It's funny and it's embarrassing, but i will share this.
So one thing that you cannot do in prison and
if you want to survive, is to not stand up
for yourself. And I'll be the first hit it. When
I was down there in my early twenties, I'm a
light skinned guy, I had real curly hair. They considered
me a quote unquote pretty boy, which I had all
(20:45):
that works against you in prison. It works well with
the girls when I was you know, out, but it
didn't work so well in prison.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
Right so, but a roommate is what you're telling me.
Speaker 4 (20:55):
Right yeah, so so. And I had a fear of
losing my teeth. There are a lot of people in
prison who have missing teeth, and they don't have the dentists.
They don't replace them, they don't give you false teeth.
And I was absolutely determined to not put myself in
a position where I got my teeth knocked out or
something like that. So here's the funny story. I'll give
(21:16):
it to these throuper quick, Thank god, Lester Curly. My
father was tough as nails. He was like he carried himself,
sort of like Malcolm X. And when when I was younger,
he taught me to box. He taught me to box
the right way, and he would be very hard on me,
and to the point where it was probably these days
it might even be a borderline illegal. But I did
(21:39):
understand the fundamentals of how to use my hands. So
there was a time, and I'll give you a very
short funny story, but it's what kept me going. It
kept me out of trouble per se, as far as
having to do a lot of fighting the whole time
I was in prison. So I was in on the unit.
I just hit this really tough unit called Ferguson, and
I had on some Jordan's and that's sort of like
(22:01):
a status symbol when you were in prison back then,
the only thing you have are your shoes, and if
the nicer your shoes are, the more status you have
amongst the other prisoners. Well, well, this guy approached me,
and I'll be the first to admit now, as I
felt then, I was scared to death. I will not
lie and say that I wasn't scared. I was absolutely
(22:22):
terrified to be in prison, especially on that unit, and
I was very afraid of getting hurt. So but I
did remember what my father taught me. And this guy
was approaching me, and my dad always said, if it's
going to go down, it's got to go down on
your terms. So the guy approached me and was in
the process I could tell of aggressively coming at me
(22:44):
because he was interested in my tennis shoes. Because he
mentioned it, I heard him, overheard him, and when he
approached me, I just by instinct hit him as hard
as I could with my left hand. And this is
nothing to boast about. It's just a funny story in hindsight.
And the guy was about two sixty. I was about
one ninety. But I hit him just in the right spot,
(23:05):
knocked him out. And now said that to say, I
was scared to death because, oh my god, I was
praying to God that he would wake up and please
don't die or don't being hurt, because now I'm gonna
get even more time. I'll never get out of prison. Right,
Thank god, he got up, Everything was okay, shook it off.
But that got me a nickname. And oh my god,
before I tell you the nickname, I'm gonna tell you.
In prison, everybody has the cool nicknames, hipping, slim, jazzy, red, Colorado, black, smooth,
(23:33):
all that stuff. Well, guess what they called me. They
called me. They called me froggy. They called me froggy
because they said I jumped like a frog and.
Speaker 7 (23:45):
They said, yeah.
Speaker 4 (23:46):
I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, can I have
a better nickname than froggy? And but it was it
was actually a show of respect because they were like,
don't mess with that dude. He's froggy, he'll jump.
Speaker 2 (23:58):
Yeah, well, yes, you you you you were you did
You didn't want to punch the guy. You didn't sucker
punch the guy, because the sucker punch is when the
guys doesn't see it coming, he's sward coming. But but
you knew, you knew you better to strike first.
Speaker 5 (24:16):
I had to.
Speaker 4 (24:17):
And yeah, that was the one and only physical altercation
I ever got into in the entire time I was
in prison. And although I had the stupidest nickname and
I could never say kid it was, there was a
bit of respect that went with it. And that was
the only issue I ever had in prison with.
Speaker 2 (24:32):
Word got around. Word got around. He wanted your kicks,
and uh.
Speaker 4 (24:40):
You don't mess with a scared man. They're the most anxious.
Speaker 2 (24:44):
All right, Uh, we got to take a quick news
break here. My guest is Scott Alan Curley. I want
to talk about your time out and what you said,
what you have done. We now know what you overcame,
but I want to talk about your triumphs. And again
I would love folks, particularly folks who have spent time
in a set of circumstances, and I have many listeners
(25:05):
in that situation feel free to join the conversation. I
think that it's very important to make people understand that
if you do make a mistake, and you pay your
debt to society and you come out and you can
get past that mistake, as the guest has, there's a
there's a tremendous amount of respect that should be rendered
(25:27):
by those of us who have never known what it
was like to be incarcerated. My name is Dan Ray.
This is night Side six one seven, two, five, four
ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.
My guest is Scott Alan Curley, his book Absolution, The
Dark Path to Life. He is forty seven years old.
If I'm doing my math correctly, Uh. He has spent
(25:48):
ten years of his life inside of tough prisons. He
got off that roller coaster. He has overcome drugs, prison, sobriety, determination, relapse, homelessness,
and ultimately absolution. Uh. And he is now a millionaire
and an entrepreneur, a successful businessman, an incredible story. Back
on night.
Speaker 1 (26:08):
Side, night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
I guess is Scott Alan Curley his book Absolution, The
Dark Path to Light. Scott, what year did you get
out of prison. Finally you hit you hit the joints
at sometime in the late eighties. When was When was
the day you walked out for the last time.
Speaker 4 (26:35):
Last time I walked out was in two thousand and one.
I was back on a parle violation. And I do
have to clarify, as much as I would like to
own the age forty seven, I'm actually fifty seven. I
was born in nineteen sixty seven.
Speaker 2 (26:45):
Okay, you know my math. My math has failed me there, Okay, okay,
that's okay, okay, Well that's good instead of having a
you know, twenty five percent. Okay, no, thank you for that,
for that correction, no problem. Let's I want to work
phone calls in here, but I also want to complete
the story. Let me let me grab a couple of
calls and we'll complete the story here. I got Jeff
(27:07):
in Brockton. Jeff, you're first. I'm going to get you
on here real quickly. With Scott Allen.
Speaker 5 (27:16):
How are you man? I got I got to see. Congratulations.
I am still on the path. I I got out
of prison seven years ago, and this is the first
time in my life I've haven't made an effort to
stay out.
Speaker 4 (27:29):
I'm allow wonderful work.
Speaker 5 (27:31):
I work two jobs full time. You know, I'm like
I said, I'm still on the path. I've dealt with homelessness,
you know, substance abuse, hurole violations. You know. I'm tempted
to do something stupid every every day, and if it's
you know, I just keep my head down, keep pushing
forward with work work. Why you know, I know what
(27:55):
you will. You have overcome so up, what much respect.
I haven't read your book yet. I'm just looking at
the Dan ray Am. I right home like I do
every night, and I'm definitely gonna be picking up your book.
Speaker 4 (28:09):
Man. Congratulations, Thank you sir. Let me share just a
real quick tidbit with you, because I love and appreciate
that you called in and love your brother. I would recommend,
whenever you think about doing something that's not the best,
that may not be the best decision, because I think
about it every day all day as well, just apply
what I call the ten second rules before you do anything.
(28:31):
Just pause, breathe, and just take ten seconds ten seconds
before you make any sort of decision. And there's a
very good chance that if you just wait ten seconds
before you make that decision that your emotions are telling
you that you should make you more than likely will
not make that poor decision just takes ten seconds.
Speaker 5 (28:50):
I'm gonna do just that.
Speaker 2 (28:52):
Hey, Jeff, thank you for being a loyal nightside listener.
Congratulations to you. If you're in the midst of a
fight or you're gonna going to overcome it. And if
I can ever.
Speaker 5 (29:03):
Be for anybody with a criminal record, I'm sorry, I
could not hear that. I said. The discrimination is real
out here for anybody with a criminal record.
Speaker 8 (29:16):
It is.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
That just means we have to fight a little harder.
That's all I got.
Speaker 5 (29:20):
Lucky. A guy gave me a chance and I and
I'm making the best of it.
Speaker 4 (29:24):
You know, man, you're proud.
Speaker 5 (29:28):
Thank you. Congratulations, stay out right.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Back at you. Congratulations, appreciate it.
Speaker 6 (29:35):
Thanks.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
That's that's a guy who's listening every night. Let me
go to Marty and Florida and Saint Augustine, Florida. Marty,
you're on with my guest Scott Alan, Curly Scott. I
will tell you this is a former police officer, former
New York City police officer.
Speaker 4 (29:52):
But I suspect ahead.
Speaker 6 (30:00):
I went on in nineteen seventy I got promoted to
sergeant in nineteen eighty five. I retired in nineteen ninety.
Let me just tell you something. First of all, like
a a friend of mine in Long Island who was
mentoring a felon, and it's certainly he had an argument
with his girlfriend and he's tried to choke her. And
they made a new law in New York called criminal strangulation,
(30:21):
which is a felony. So this guy became a felon,
and he's the nicest guy in the world. And when
I go to New York to visit him, I say
his name is Michael. I said, Mike, you're a felon,
but you're not a crook. Okay, that's number one. Number
two Martha Stewart is a felon, and I couldn't afford
to live next to her for a pispic. I what
you call it insider trading? Okay, number three. A few
(30:45):
years ago in Florida, they had Proposition four. Well, they
want to give felons, except if you're a sexual violator
or murderer, they want to give you back the right
to vote. I voted yes. The Republican Party said vote no.
And now felon's can just walk in and vote as
long as they are paid up all all their dues whatever. Okay,
(31:05):
and I do agree. One thing I don't like is,
and this has nothing to do with the felons, but
when you come out of prison or whatever your felon,
it's like you might as well be dead because it's
supposedly hard to get a job. And that I think
that there are a lot of people out there, Goodie
good He's who I hate. I love felons and I
love homeless people. My next door neighbor was a skinhead
(31:27):
in California. He did eight years in prison, shot up
a bar, and now he's working in the local his
His only problem is he's a drinker, but he's working
in the local hospital. He's very proud of his job,
and his family has a key to my house. So
I tell people, felon doesn't mean a crook, right, And
we were appreciated When I was in New York during
(31:50):
the before I retired, a life sentence in New York
was usually about eight years, and that's ridiculous. But I've
met people in screed who said, well, I serve time
for manslaughter. I killed an FBI agent. I don't like
when people braggs. But I totally support your guests, and
I want to thank him and everybody out there. I'm
(32:12):
going to tell you right now I would hire a
fellon in a minute, but I don't like to hire drunks.
So he knows somebody that's a fella, and give the
guy a break because he's trying to make something that.
Speaker 2 (32:22):
It all right, mighty, Thank you man. We'll talk soon, Okay,
thanks Welby show.
Speaker 4 (32:26):
Thank you, Rody.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
You can tell from Marty he's in New York and
he's got that classic New York accent. Let me go
to Sherry out Sherry in Houston, Texas. Erry, I suspect
that you may be a friend of our guest if
you're a regular listener to Night Side. Welcome either way,
go right ahead, Sherry.
Speaker 7 (32:43):
This is my first time. Hi Scott, it's your classmate,
Sherry Morgan. And oh and I wanted to call in.
I know me and some of our other classmates are listening,
but I wanted to call in and personally, I just
want to tell you Scott. You know, we went to
(33:04):
school together. We we we've.
Speaker 6 (33:07):
Been through a lot.
Speaker 7 (33:09):
Uh, we've probably seen each other at our words our best.
We've all gone through things and since graduating from high school,
all of us, we've all gone in different directions. And
the truth is, we all have a story.
Speaker 2 (33:21):
Uh.
Speaker 7 (33:21):
I have your book, and the truth is I've read
just a couple of pages. I haven't read all of it,
and and.
Speaker 6 (33:30):
I'm going to.
Speaker 7 (33:31):
But I just want to let you know that, in
spite of all that you've been through, Uh, I'm proud
of you because it's like you say, you know, turn
lemons into lemonade. Uh, that's what you've done. I looked
at you at the at at our last class of union,
and I thought, I mean, I just the things that
(33:53):
you've accomplished. You didn't let the things get the best
of you, and even when you were down, but look
where you are now. Uh. And I'm just thankful to
God that that you are doing great things. And I
pray that you continue to do great things and uh,
just reaching out telling your story, helping other people. But
(34:16):
you know, as your classmate, I know, I'm I'm proud
of you so much.
Speaker 4 (34:20):
Thank you so much, Scherry, and I love you, and
I'm proud to be proud to call you my friend.
I have to say something real quick about. Sherry said,
I'm gonna go ahead and put her out there since
she called Cherry was my friend in school that she
didn't know it, but she lit up my day almost
every day. Because Sherry, I could do almost anything and
make it she. I could make her laugh and see
that she had the most infectious natural laugh. And even
(34:42):
when I was down, I would just do something stupid
and Cherry would just giggle and laugh. And I get
her in trouble, and she and I get in trouble.
But it was worth it because it was so much
joy to us.
Speaker 5 (34:54):
Yes, it was.
Speaker 4 (34:55):
Yes, So I have so much love for Sarry. Thank you,
thank you for that, Sherry.
Speaker 2 (34:59):
Thanks, thank you for ca And you said first time calling.
We always get first time callers a round of the
calls here on night side. So I don't know if
you've ever listened before. I suspect that probably you knew.
You knew Scott was going to be on, but I hope.
Speaker 7 (35:11):
I did Facebook post and I said, you know, another classmate,
I said, look, I was going to call in socheck check.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
In every once in a while. We did a lot
of interesting shows up here, and uh, we have a
lot of listeners in Texas believe it or not to
listen to us regularly.
Speaker 6 (35:26):
Thanks, thank you, Okay, thank you, Scott.
Speaker 4 (35:31):
Bye, this is great.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Look, Scott, I got to take one final quick break.
I do want to talk about your success. And we
got a bunch of calls as well, and we'll try
to get them in as well, but we'll get it
all none by eleven. I promise. That's what we do
here every night. All right, my guest to Scott Allen
Curly the book Absolution, The Dark Path to Life. This
is one I think you want to get, folks. Okay,
(35:54):
we I believe in this gentleman, and I hope you
can hear in his voice the ring of truth and integrity.
And he has been there and got back and not
many people do that, but he he set an example.
We'll be back on Nightside. We got a couple of
lines open six one, seven, nine, six, seven, ten thirty.
(36:15):
Coming right back on Nightside.
Speaker 1 (36:17):
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World
Night Saint Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.
Speaker 2 (36:25):
Unfortunately, this hour's moving too quickly. Scott Alan Curley is
my guest. Scott spent time. He's fifty seven, young man
as far as I'm Concerned, spent ten years over a
period at various periods of time in prison, and is
now a self made millionaire of his book Absolution The
Dark Path to Light. What did you do once you
get out in two thousand and one for the final time?
(36:48):
What what? What career path have you followed? Which one
allowed you to succeed and also allowed you to accumulate wealth? Well?
Speaker 4 (36:58):
I started, I started doing what I'd been doing all along,
but I just started doing it legally. I started I
was working, started working in sales. So when I was in,
when I was out in the streets hustling and doing
all the bad things. Uh, the way that I got
what I wanted was by talking myself into getting people
(37:18):
to give me what I wanted. And some people could
call it being a con artist or or whatever, but
I did have thanks to Annie Curley, my mother, she
required She forced me to speak good, proper English and
and to be a strong communicator. And so when I
got out, I just started I had that natural skill
(37:39):
set and I just started using it in the professional world.
And I realized pretty quickly that I had a knack
for sales. And so that's that was my first Uh,
professional type position.
Speaker 2 (37:51):
So what type of sales were you involved in.
Speaker 4 (37:54):
I had the worst, the worst sales job. I was
working for a company that that UH sold. It was
retention sales. Back in the day, this was in the
early two thousands, they used to have these credit card
enhancement programs where UH these credit card companies, and I
feel like it was a scam. In fact, I'm pretty
sure that it was where they would they would have
(38:14):
h on they would have you sign up for these
quote unquote programs for dental benefits and dining benefits and
all that, and and you and people would be paying
for it not know it, and then after three or
four months they would notice it on their bill and
then they would charge. They would call the cut that
number on the back of the card and cuss out
whoever they get on the phone. And my job was
(38:36):
to take take that take that call and somehow convinced
them to keep the program.
Speaker 2 (38:41):
Okay, so I'm a millionaire doing that. How'd you how'd
you how'd you accumulate wealth?
Speaker 4 (38:48):
Well? Well that was my that was how I cut
my teeth. And you know how I realized that I
that I had a knack for sales. But then I
got into the tax resolution in sales, and and uh,
you know, we don't have enough time to really get
into how it all happened. But okay, but but the
short of it is that the conversation and having the
(39:08):
ability to effectively communicate will open all sorts of doors
for you and I.
Speaker 2 (39:13):
That's what is as simple as that.
Speaker 4 (39:16):
I just talk and and and it it opens so
many doors. And and uh, I want to I know
we don't have much time, but to to your point
when you ask, how did I get to where I'm
where I am and where I hope to continue to
go because I feel like I still have a lot
more work to do. People tend to misunderstand and and
(39:39):
misconstrue the difference between barriers and obstacles. A barrier is
something that you cannot get through. You can't penetrate it,
you can't get over it, you can't get under it,
you can't get around it. An obstacle, on the other hand,
is something that you can get around and you can
get over and you can get through it. The problem
that many of us are let me rephrase that, the
challenge that many of us spaces that we confuse barriers
(40:01):
with obstacles. In many cases, some of us, we're all
guilty of it, will encounter a difficult situation and we
will perceive it as being a barrier, and in many
cases we'll stop trying to push forward. But in most
cases that perceived barrier is actually just an obstacle. The
world in general is filled with obstacles. There's one obstacle
(40:26):
after another, but it doesn't really have a whole lot
of barriers.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
Though.
Speaker 4 (40:30):
There are a lot of perceived barriers, But those perceived
barriers are actually not barriers, They're just obstacles.
Speaker 2 (40:36):
That is a great philosophy. I got a couple more
calls I want to get in. One is from Houston.
We're going to take first, LeAnn, who's calling from Massachusetts, Attleborough, Massachusetts. Leanne,
I know you've been waiting a little bit, but I'll
ask you to be quick so we can get one
more person in from Houston. Go ahead, Leanne.
Speaker 9 (40:52):
Hello, good to talk to you Dan and Scott. First, Scott,
thank you for being the inspiration that you are both
to the incarceration those on the outside, because success stories
such of you as yours are few and far between.
As you know, I have a question about the title
of your book, Absolution the Dark Path to Light. Since
(41:15):
absolution means forgiveness of sins, I'm curious as to whether
you attribute any of your success and soundness of mind
to a faith based experience or a relationship with God
or anything like that.
Speaker 2 (41:33):
All right, go ahead, Scott, all the above.
Speaker 4 (41:36):
There's no way that I could ever be where I
am now if I weren't a able to forgive myself
and be able to forgive the people that hurt me.
And so that is the short, short answer to that question.
Carry around carrying that burden of non forgiveness is very
(41:57):
very heavy. It's very heavy and a weigh down. And
so when I was able to forgive myself first of all,
and then forgive others who harmed me, and I pray
that they forgive and ask for forgiveness that they forget
you know me as well, then that paved the way
for me to be able to do all sorts of
wonderful things.
Speaker 2 (42:16):
Leanne, great question. I want to get one more in.
Thanks Lee, And that's an excellent question. And I should
have I should have thought of that one myself.
Speaker 9 (42:23):
Thank you, all right, thank you, good night.
Speaker 2 (42:27):
Let me go back to Houston. Keith is in Houston, Keith,
you were on with Scott Allen Curley go right ahead
on WBZ and Boston Keith, go right ahead.
Speaker 8 (42:34):
Hey Dan, you're from one of my favorite cities on
Protectas I grew up with Scott, I just wanted to
pass along something real quick. We're longtime friends, Yes, we're are.
His story, his story is real. And I remember going
to his house and hanging out with his parents, Lester
and Annie Curly. And what was interesting was, now that
(42:58):
I think back on it, how accommodating and loving they
were to the friends and me, and they welcomed us,
wanted us to hang out. She would ask me if
she could cook me anything. And it was a long
long time before I realizing. Me and Scott talked and
(43:22):
he confided in me different things that it had happened
in his life that I didn't even know back back
at that time. So my point is is that you
never know what people are going through. It's easy to
make a judgment about a family or people and friends
or whoever it may be, but you really don't know
a lot of times. And Scott's story, you know, it
(43:46):
took control of me and him we're in our fifties
to finally reveal and tell me about a lot of this.
So it's just an interesting part of life and it's
taught me life lessons up until this day. Yes, Scott's
story is part of that. And even even though I
knew his family well I thought I did. We hung
out together and did a lot of things together and
(44:08):
had a lot of life experiences together. But you never
know really what people are going through.
Speaker 2 (44:14):
Absolutely, Keith, Keith, I'm flat out of time, so I
got to let you go. But I hope you'll continue
to listen to my show. We do a variety of
issues up here, and I think you have a better
sense of what this show is all about having listened tonight.
Thank you for listening, all right, Keith got Thank you
Keith Scott, Alan Curley a great hour. Absolution The Dark
(44:36):
Path to Light. The book is available and Amazon, I
assume everywhere.
Speaker 4 (44:42):
Right Amazon, you can buy it in barns and now
will go to any anywhere books are sold, either online
or in stores. You can find it. If it's not
in the bookstore, so just go to the front count
and make an order for you to have it for
you the next day.
Speaker 2 (44:54):
Sounds great, Scott Alan Curley, I hope to meet you
someday if I get down your way, you get up
to way. You are an inspiration and I feel I
know you have to have spent an hour with you,
and you're an extraordinary person. Thank you so much for being.
Speaker 4 (45:10):
I really appreciate you. Dan, you have a wonderful rest
of your evening. And to your listeners, I thank them
all and God bless all of you. Guys.
Speaker 2 (45:16):
Right back at you, well we come back. We got
one more hour to go. Right after the eleven o'clock
news here on night Side on a Wednesday night,
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