WEBVTT

1
00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:05.599
<v Speaker 1>It's with Dan Ray. I'm deel you easy, Boston.

2
00:00:07.160 --> 00:00:10.160
<v Speaker 2>All right. Welcome back everybody, Thank you Dan Watkins. As

3
00:00:10.199 --> 00:00:13.240
<v Speaker 2>we move into our third hour tonight on night Side.

4
00:00:13.960 --> 00:00:16.480
<v Speaker 2>Week ago, I guess was a week ago Friday. This

5
00:00:16.519 --> 00:00:19.960
<v Speaker 2>gentleman joined me during the eight o'clock hour, Scott Alan Curly,

6
00:00:20.559 --> 00:00:24.359
<v Speaker 2>and as I talked to him, I felt that his

7
00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:30.160
<v Speaker 2>story needed more time to really understand the triumph of

8
00:00:30.199 --> 00:00:33.759
<v Speaker 2>this guy's life. And I also, you know, we don't

9
00:00:33.799 --> 00:00:35.799
<v Speaker 2>take phone calls in the eight o'clock hour because the

10
00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:38.000
<v Speaker 2>guests are only with us for you know, seven, eight, nine,

11
00:00:38.079 --> 00:00:40.960
<v Speaker 2>ten minutes at most, And so I asked him to

12
00:00:40.960 --> 00:00:45.840
<v Speaker 2>come back, and he's joining us again tonight, Scott, welcome

13
00:00:46.079 --> 00:00:48.079
<v Speaker 2>back to night Side. It seems like it just only

14
00:00:48.079 --> 00:00:49.920
<v Speaker 2>a few days ago we had you here. But tonight

15
00:00:49.960 --> 00:00:52.320
<v Speaker 2>we got a little bit more opportunity to let your

16
00:00:52.359 --> 00:00:54.240
<v Speaker 2>story breathe a little bit. How are you tonight?

17
00:00:54.960 --> 00:00:55.679
<v Speaker 3>I'm doing great.

18
00:00:55.719 --> 00:00:57.280
<v Speaker 4>I really appreciate you having me tonight.

19
00:00:57.960 --> 00:01:00.840
<v Speaker 2>Well, your story is just one of those those amazing

20
00:01:00.880 --> 00:01:06.400
<v Speaker 2>stories of success. So let's start at the beginning. You

21
00:01:06.480 --> 00:01:10.959
<v Speaker 2>spent nearly a decade behind bars. How did you get

22
00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:15.640
<v Speaker 2>on that? What were your circumstances that led to you

23
00:01:15.760 --> 00:01:19.239
<v Speaker 2>making I assume what now in retrospect, you recognize with

24
00:01:19.359 --> 00:01:21.280
<v Speaker 2>some poor decisions.

25
00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:25.359
<v Speaker 4>Very poor decisions. Well okay, well, so since we have

26
00:01:25.439 --> 00:01:28.200
<v Speaker 4>a little bit more time to chat, I'll give you

27
00:01:28.239 --> 00:01:31.840
<v Speaker 4>a little bit more expanded version. Yeah, so that we

28
00:01:31.879 --> 00:01:35.040
<v Speaker 4>can you know, it can have more context. I was

29
00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:39.640
<v Speaker 4>raised in a very dysfunctional family, and it was all

30
00:01:39.640 --> 00:01:42.359
<v Speaker 4>about the exterior. It was all about the image. And

31
00:01:42.439 --> 00:01:48.359
<v Speaker 4>so I've spent my entire childhood trying to mold myself

32
00:01:48.400 --> 00:01:51.359
<v Speaker 4>into being what I thought others wanted me to be,

33
00:01:51.599 --> 00:01:55.760
<v Speaker 4>as opposed to really embracing who I really was. And

34
00:01:55.799 --> 00:01:58.400
<v Speaker 4>I got so good at that that I lost or

35
00:01:58.840 --> 00:02:04.879
<v Speaker 4>lost myself in that in that facade per se. And

36
00:02:04.879 --> 00:02:08.759
<v Speaker 4>and you know, just the struggle between those two dynamics

37
00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:11.840
<v Speaker 4>was pulling at me so hard, and it was something

38
00:02:11.840 --> 00:02:15.159
<v Speaker 4>that I kept very secret. You know, I kept it

39
00:02:15.199 --> 00:02:20.159
<v Speaker 4>to myself. Even my closest the friends were unaware of

40
00:02:20.319 --> 00:02:26.759
<v Speaker 4>the you know, the turmoil. And as as time went on,

41
00:02:26.840 --> 00:02:30.240
<v Speaker 4>and when I got closer to graduating, I felt myself

42
00:02:30.800 --> 00:02:34.599
<v Speaker 4>getting more and more intense tense step meaning that I

43
00:02:34.599 --> 00:02:37.360
<v Speaker 4>felt like something was about to happen inside of me.

44
00:02:37.479 --> 00:02:40.039
<v Speaker 4>But I still still I didn't share that with anyone.

45
00:02:40.560 --> 00:02:43.719
<v Speaker 4>And then I started hanging out with quote unquote the

46
00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:47.000
<v Speaker 4>wrong crowd, which was pretty much all that I needed,

47
00:02:48.039 --> 00:02:50.560
<v Speaker 4>you know. And I say that tongue in cheek, and

48
00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:53.120
<v Speaker 4>eventually things just began to implode.

49
00:02:53.280 --> 00:02:57.199
<v Speaker 2>And where about you grow up?

50
00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:00.400
<v Speaker 4>I grew up in a little town called Crosby, Texas,

51
00:03:01.400 --> 00:03:04.840
<v Speaker 4>just outside of Houston, northeast of Houston. The first part

52
00:03:04.919 --> 00:03:08.400
<v Speaker 4>of my early life was in Baytown, Texas, and from

53
00:03:08.439 --> 00:03:11.400
<v Speaker 4>there we moved to Crosby, which is just maybe twenty

54
00:03:11.400 --> 00:03:14.000
<v Speaker 4>minutes north of that, and that's where I spent the

55
00:03:14.039 --> 00:03:15.199
<v Speaker 4>majority of my childhood.

56
00:03:15.639 --> 00:03:21.080
<v Speaker 2>Okay, again, I don't want to ask questions that are

57
00:03:21.080 --> 00:03:29.240
<v Speaker 2>too personal, But was your family situation tough or did

58
00:03:29.800 --> 00:03:33.199
<v Speaker 2>you mom and dad you know, were they supportive? Or

59
00:03:33.199 --> 00:03:35.960
<v Speaker 2>did you come out of a family, you know, a

60
00:03:35.960 --> 00:03:39.199
<v Speaker 2>family stead of circumstances that we might characterize or a

61
00:03:39.199 --> 00:03:41.879
<v Speaker 2>psychiatrist might characterize as dysfunctional.

62
00:03:43.400 --> 00:03:46.080
<v Speaker 4>It was the epitome of dysfunction, no question about it.

63
00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:48.080
<v Speaker 2>Well, you go right to the point. That's what I

64
00:03:48.159 --> 00:03:51.000
<v Speaker 2>like about you. I'm trying to ask questions as kindly

65
00:03:51.039 --> 00:03:53.960
<v Speaker 2>and as as I Then here I'll.

66
00:03:53.800 --> 00:03:56.199
<v Speaker 4>Tell you don't have to. You can. We can be

67
00:03:56.240 --> 00:03:58.879
<v Speaker 4>brutally honest. I wrote the book Absolution, The Dark Path

68
00:03:58.919 --> 00:04:03.080
<v Speaker 4>to Light to to actually expose all of those secrets.

69
00:04:03.120 --> 00:04:05.719
<v Speaker 4>And I did that, you know, for the sake of

70
00:04:05.719 --> 00:04:09.479
<v Speaker 4>freeing myself and also helping others to understand that they

71
00:04:09.520 --> 00:04:10.520
<v Speaker 4>can do the same as well.

72
00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:12.759
<v Speaker 2>So you look like a pretty young guy to me.

73
00:04:12.840 --> 00:04:15.000
<v Speaker 2>So I'm guessing you were born sometime in the eighties.

74
00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:18.720
<v Speaker 4>I was born in nineteen sixty seven. I appreciate that compliment.

75
00:04:18.920 --> 00:04:19.680
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, good for you.

76
00:04:19.959 --> 00:04:21.879
<v Speaker 5>Good for you will get you everywhere.

77
00:04:22.079 --> 00:04:24.399
<v Speaker 2>You're on the right side of fifty. That's good.

78
00:04:26.519 --> 00:04:27.079
<v Speaker 4>Well, thank you.

79
00:04:27.439 --> 00:04:34.959
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So, so you you know you did you have

80
00:04:34.959 --> 00:04:38.000
<v Speaker 2>a big family growing up or was it a small group?

81
00:04:38.920 --> 00:04:41.720
<v Speaker 4>No, it was very small. Actually, I was the only child.

82
00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:46.279
<v Speaker 4>I was adopted into the Curly family. And I will

83
00:04:46.319 --> 00:04:49.360
<v Speaker 4>not say my parents, my adoptive parents. They were not

84
00:04:49.680 --> 00:04:53.560
<v Speaker 4>bad people, yep. I'll say that the problem and the

85
00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:56.759
<v Speaker 4>challenge that they faced is that they just did not

86
00:04:57.000 --> 00:05:03.879
<v Speaker 4>have the training, understanding our history or experience to know

87
00:05:03.920 --> 00:05:07.600
<v Speaker 4>how to raise a child properly. And there's something that

88
00:05:07.639 --> 00:05:09.920
<v Speaker 4>I learned that we can only give as much as

89
00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.519
<v Speaker 4>we have to give. And unfortunately they just didn't have

90
00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:16.399
<v Speaker 4>the parenting skills. They weren't given a lot as when

91
00:05:16.399 --> 00:05:18.399
<v Speaker 4>they were when they were with the way that they

92
00:05:18.399 --> 00:05:19.480
<v Speaker 4>were raised, and so.

93
00:05:20.759 --> 00:05:22.879
<v Speaker 2>Were they were they young with a young parent, with

94
00:05:23.000 --> 00:05:25.120
<v Speaker 2>a young parents got they.

95
00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:29.000
<v Speaker 4>Were average age parents. My mother was twenty nine when

96
00:05:29.040 --> 00:05:30.639
<v Speaker 4>I was born and my father would have been thirty

97
00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:32.360
<v Speaker 4>four when I was born, but they didn't adopt me

98
00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:34.240
<v Speaker 4>until they were until I was two years old.

99
00:05:34.319 --> 00:05:36.920
<v Speaker 2>Really really average, you know, average age. It wasn't like

100
00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:38.920
<v Speaker 2>you had a teenage mom or something like that.

101
00:05:39.040 --> 00:05:40.360
<v Speaker 4>Okay, no, not at all.

102
00:05:40.600 --> 00:05:44.560
<v Speaker 2>So was there a point in time when you think

103
00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:48.079
<v Speaker 2>things kind of went off the rails? And I'm wondering

104
00:05:48.120 --> 00:05:50.360
<v Speaker 2>if you're able to isolate that that moment.

105
00:05:51.800 --> 00:05:54.360
<v Speaker 4>Yes, And and like I said, this is the whole

106
00:05:54.399 --> 00:05:57.439
<v Speaker 4>point of us chatting, And as I did in my book,

107
00:05:57.519 --> 00:06:01.240
<v Speaker 4>it's brutal honesty because the only way that we can

108
00:06:01.279 --> 00:06:04.000
<v Speaker 4>free ourselves and do better is if we put aside

109
00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:07.360
<v Speaker 4>the facades. And so during our talk tonight, I'll share

110
00:06:07.439 --> 00:06:10.279
<v Speaker 4>some pretty uh you know, I'll be respectful about it,

111
00:06:10.279 --> 00:06:11.800
<v Speaker 4>but I will absolutely tell you the truth.

112
00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:12.480
<v Speaker 2>Uh.

113
00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.639
<v Speaker 4>Growing up in my family was was was very difficult

114
00:06:16.800 --> 00:06:20.759
<v Speaker 4>because my parents were more concerned about the image as

115
00:06:20.759 --> 00:06:24.839
<v Speaker 4>opposed to building, uh, you know, growing and nurturing the

116
00:06:24.879 --> 00:06:28.079
<v Speaker 4>family itself. It was all about how we appeared to

117
00:06:28.120 --> 00:06:30.480
<v Speaker 4>the Joneses. On the outside. We looked like the absolute

118
00:06:30.480 --> 00:06:33.240
<v Speaker 4>perfect family. We were an African American family where my

119
00:06:33.319 --> 00:06:36.680
<v Speaker 4>father was was very well respected in the in the

120
00:06:36.720 --> 00:06:39.519
<v Speaker 4>neighbor in the community we ended. When I was nine

121
00:06:39.560 --> 00:06:42.199
<v Speaker 4>years old, we moved to a neighborhood called Newport that

122
00:06:42.360 --> 00:06:47.000
<v Speaker 4>was primarily predominantly a upper middle class white neighborhood, and

123
00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.360
<v Speaker 4>we were one of only maybe four black families in it.

124
00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:54.920
<v Speaker 4>And my father was determined to to kind of be

125
00:06:54.959 --> 00:06:58.120
<v Speaker 4>a step above everyone else. The nicer had a little

126
00:06:58.120 --> 00:07:00.279
<v Speaker 4>bit nicer car than everyone had. They are of the

127
00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:03.800
<v Speaker 4>month very often, you know, we we just I was

128
00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:07.120
<v Speaker 4>pretty much their their their trophy child.

129
00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:07.399
<v Speaker 6>I would.

130
00:07:07.959 --> 00:07:09.639
<v Speaker 4>I hate to say, but it's a fact.

131
00:07:10.279 --> 00:07:10.560
<v Speaker 2>Uh.

132
00:07:10.600 --> 00:07:14.639
<v Speaker 4>And so my I was raised believing that I had

133
00:07:14.639 --> 00:07:20.160
<v Speaker 4>to earn love and uh and validation. I did not.

134
00:07:20.480 --> 00:07:24.079
<v Speaker 4>I was not taught that it was something that I

135
00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:26.160
<v Speaker 4>would I had, that I should, that I had a

136
00:07:26.279 --> 00:07:28.120
<v Speaker 4>right to just by being a human being.

137
00:07:28.199 --> 00:07:28.639
<v Speaker 6>Per se.

138
00:07:29.120 --> 00:07:30.959
<v Speaker 2>Let me let me ask you, how did you figure

139
00:07:31.040 --> 00:07:33.680
<v Speaker 2>all of this out? And I know I'm jumping ahead

140
00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:36.439
<v Speaker 2>of the story here, but how did you how did

141
00:07:36.439 --> 00:07:39.079
<v Speaker 2>you figure all? And we're gonna when we get back

142
00:07:39.079 --> 00:07:41.040
<v Speaker 2>from the break, we'll get into the story of of

143
00:07:41.639 --> 00:07:44.879
<v Speaker 2>you know, how the roller coaster started and how you

144
00:07:44.879 --> 00:07:47.240
<v Speaker 2>you went down and you and what you ended up with.

145
00:07:47.279 --> 00:07:50.519
<v Speaker 2>But you've kind of figured this out, You've you've taken

146
00:07:50.560 --> 00:07:55.199
<v Speaker 2>the time to to to figure out what happened. Did

147
00:07:55.240 --> 00:07:58.839
<v Speaker 2>you meet people in prison or were there professionals in

148
00:07:58.839 --> 00:08:01.839
<v Speaker 2>prison who helped you work? How did you figure this out?

149
00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:06.800
<v Speaker 4>Yes, that's a very good question. The fact is I

150
00:08:06.959 --> 00:08:11.120
<v Speaker 4>was blessed to be sent to prison. I was in

151
00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:14.240
<v Speaker 4>and out of jail in prison for between eighty nine

152
00:08:14.319 --> 00:08:16.839
<v Speaker 4>and I'm sorry, between eighty eight and ninety one, probably

153
00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:19.600
<v Speaker 4>forty times. I was probably in jail thirty to forty

154
00:08:19.639 --> 00:08:22.279
<v Speaker 4>times within a three year period. I would come out

155
00:08:22.399 --> 00:08:25.000
<v Speaker 4>on a little short break and go right back in

156
00:08:25.040 --> 00:08:25.800
<v Speaker 4>for something else.

157
00:08:27.000 --> 00:08:29.519
<v Speaker 5>But the last what we would.

158
00:08:29.319 --> 00:08:32.559
<v Speaker 2>Call what we would call a frequent flyer.

159
00:08:33.480 --> 00:08:35.840
<v Speaker 4>Then I actually got categorized the last time I got

160
00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:38.559
<v Speaker 4>sentenced for a non violent offense, which was for auto

161
00:08:38.639 --> 00:08:41.120
<v Speaker 4>theft to thirty five years in prison. Because I was

162
00:08:41.159 --> 00:08:43.879
<v Speaker 4>categorized at the age of twenty two, a habitual criminal

163
00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:46.559
<v Speaker 4>at twenty two years old, And at that point I

164
00:08:46.600 --> 00:08:48.559
<v Speaker 4>got sentenced to thirty five years, which was the worst

165
00:08:48.600 --> 00:08:51.120
<v Speaker 4>and best thing that ever happened to me, because I

166
00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.200
<v Speaker 4>was I was forced to take a real, real look

167
00:08:54.240 --> 00:08:56.639
<v Speaker 4>at myself and at that was that was the point

168
00:08:56.720 --> 00:08:59.919
<v Speaker 4>where I realized that no matter how well I could

169
00:09:00.519 --> 00:09:02.960
<v Speaker 4>taught myself out of things, I wasn't going to be

170
00:09:03.000 --> 00:09:06.000
<v Speaker 4>able to talk myself and we'll wiggle myselself out of

171
00:09:06.000 --> 00:09:07.720
<v Speaker 4>this one. I had to deal with it.

172
00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:10.440
<v Speaker 2>And the Texas court system in the in the late

173
00:09:10.519 --> 00:09:14.720
<v Speaker 2>eighties early nineties was not a sort of Kumba feel

174
00:09:14.799 --> 00:09:15.919
<v Speaker 2>good experience.

175
00:09:16.440 --> 00:09:20.519
<v Speaker 4>So no, I was down there in old school, and yeah,

176
00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:22.759
<v Speaker 4>I got sent to some of the I was on

177
00:09:23.279 --> 00:09:25.279
<v Speaker 4>some of the toughest units in Texas. They called one

178
00:09:25.279 --> 00:09:29.399
<v Speaker 4>of them Ferguson the gladiator, gladiator unit where you had

179
00:09:29.840 --> 00:09:31.519
<v Speaker 4>to be able to take care of yourself to survive

180
00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:35.559
<v Speaker 4>down there. But like I said, in hindsight, it may

181
00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:38.240
<v Speaker 4>sound very bizarre to say that it was the best

182
00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:39.919
<v Speaker 4>thing that ever could have happened to me, because to

183
00:09:39.960 --> 00:09:42.759
<v Speaker 4>your point and to your question, I had to go

184
00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:45.720
<v Speaker 4>through a program that was called i PTC. It stands

185
00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:48.240
<v Speaker 4>for in Prison Therapeutic Community and it.

186
00:09:48.240 --> 00:09:55.200
<v Speaker 3>Was the most intense, most rugged, most involved program I've

187
00:09:55.240 --> 00:09:58.600
<v Speaker 3>ever heard of and ever known to be in existence,

188
00:09:59.200 --> 00:10:01.039
<v Speaker 3>and a lot of folks couldn't make it through it.

189
00:10:00.960 --> 00:10:03.039
<v Speaker 4>It was seven days a week, twelve hours a day

190
00:10:03.080 --> 00:10:06.000
<v Speaker 4>for a full year. And thank God for that program.

191
00:10:06.000 --> 00:10:10.000
<v Speaker 4>That program gave me the opportunity to have a life

192
00:10:10.120 --> 00:10:14.320
<v Speaker 4>of real life and taught me how to manage my

193
00:10:14.440 --> 00:10:17.679
<v Speaker 4>behavior and my feelings. And part of the big, part

194
00:10:17.679 --> 00:10:21.120
<v Speaker 4>of a big reason that many of us get in

195
00:10:21.159 --> 00:10:24.720
<v Speaker 4>trouble is that we have a hard time managing our feelings.

196
00:10:25.039 --> 00:10:29.279
<v Speaker 2>So my guess is Scott Alan Curley. He's written a

197
00:10:29.320 --> 00:10:33.759
<v Speaker 2>book called Absolution, The Dark Path to Light. I know

198
00:10:33.840 --> 00:10:37.759
<v Speaker 2>that there are people out there who listen to my show, Scott,

199
00:10:39.039 --> 00:10:44.559
<v Speaker 2>who are now behind bars. I get letters from men

200
00:10:44.720 --> 00:10:50.000
<v Speaker 2>and women behind bars all the time. In my own career,

201
00:10:50.080 --> 00:10:52.039
<v Speaker 2>as I think we mentioned the other night, I had

202
00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:54.960
<v Speaker 2>worked on behalf of men who I came to believe

203
00:10:55.000 --> 00:10:57.960
<v Speaker 2>were wrongfully imprisoned for a murder they had nothing to

204
00:10:58.000 --> 00:11:03.159
<v Speaker 2>do with. And I have a lawyer by training and

205
00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:07.320
<v Speaker 2>also by practice, and so I'm always fascinated when someone

206
00:11:07.639 --> 00:11:12.200
<v Speaker 2>like you can literally scrape the bottom of the barrel

207
00:11:12.519 --> 00:11:18.840
<v Speaker 2>and somehow, somehow get up and get back and restore

208
00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:23.720
<v Speaker 2>your independence, your identity, and your integrity, because it's a

209
00:11:23.799 --> 00:11:26.759
<v Speaker 2>tough place to get out of once you get in.

210
00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:31.840
<v Speaker 2>I remember, as an eighteen nineteen year old young kid

211
00:11:31.879 --> 00:11:35.120
<v Speaker 2>playing baseball, we went in to play a prison team

212
00:11:35.600 --> 00:11:38.519
<v Speaker 2>and the guy that pitched against us that day had

213
00:11:38.559 --> 00:11:43.120
<v Speaker 2>been signed by the old Washington Senators, and so I

214
00:11:43.159 --> 00:11:45.600
<v Speaker 2>went out of my way to meet him after the game.

215
00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:50.080
<v Speaker 2>His name was Lefty Gilday, and I said to him,

216
00:11:50.120 --> 00:11:53.639
<v Speaker 2>I said, you know, I was a nineteen year old kid,

217
00:11:53.960 --> 00:11:56.000
<v Speaker 2>and I said, you know you can get out. I

218
00:11:56.120 --> 00:11:58.720
<v Speaker 2>left he you know, you were not a major league player,

219
00:11:58.759 --> 00:12:01.679
<v Speaker 2>but you were a bonus baby. He made some money,

220
00:12:01.679 --> 00:12:04.080
<v Speaker 2>and you're an athlete and you're a good pitcher. And

221
00:12:04.320 --> 00:12:06.720
<v Speaker 2>he probably was thirty five years old at the time.

222
00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:08.440
<v Speaker 2>And I'm nineteen year old, kid, you can get I'll

223
00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:10.519
<v Speaker 2>become a coach or something. And he looked at me

224
00:12:10.559 --> 00:12:12.320
<v Speaker 2>and he said, kid, when I get out, I'm going

225
00:12:12.320 --> 00:12:15.360
<v Speaker 2>to get drunk and rob the bank. And guess what.

226
00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:18.600
<v Speaker 2>I was at Basic Training in Fort Dixon, New Jersey,

227
00:12:18.600 --> 00:12:23.759
<v Speaker 2>in nineteen seventy and he was out. He robbed a

228
00:12:23.799 --> 00:12:28.279
<v Speaker 2>bank and he shot a police officer during that bank

229
00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:32.879
<v Speaker 2>robbery and killed an officer named Schroeder, Walter Schroeder. He

230
00:12:33.000 --> 00:12:35.639
<v Speaker 2>spent the rest of his life in prison. And when

231
00:12:35.679 --> 00:12:37.919
<v Speaker 2>I was working, believe it or not, to show you

232
00:12:37.960 --> 00:12:41.360
<v Speaker 2>how people function when I was working. Now, this is

233
00:12:41.559 --> 00:12:46.240
<v Speaker 2>probably at least I'm trying to time it here, at

234
00:12:46.360 --> 00:12:50.840
<v Speaker 2>least twenty five years later, I walked into the prison

235
00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:54.600
<v Speaker 2>to interview one of the men I was helping to

236
00:12:55.200 --> 00:12:56.960
<v Speaker 2>who I believed in. I was trying to get him

237
00:12:56.960 --> 00:13:00.039
<v Speaker 2>out of prison and left. He was sitting over the

238
00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:03.399
<v Speaker 2>corner and he didn't look hardly anything like I remembered him.

239
00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.399
<v Speaker 2>You know. He was saying a left handed picture. His

240
00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:08.720
<v Speaker 2>weight had blown up, and he looked at me and

241
00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:11.559
<v Speaker 2>he said, I struck you out twice. And I said, no, left,

242
00:13:11.559 --> 00:13:17.799
<v Speaker 2>to your lion, you never struck me out. It's just

243
00:13:17.879 --> 00:13:21.639
<v Speaker 2>amazing how the people who find themselves in that situation.

244
00:13:21.799 --> 00:13:24.080
<v Speaker 2>You know, It's like I wanted to be kind to him,

245
00:13:24.120 --> 00:13:25.960
<v Speaker 2>but it was like, no, left, you didn't strike me out.

246
00:13:26.000 --> 00:13:28.720
<v Speaker 2>You couldn't. You couldn't break a pane of glass. I mean,

247
00:13:28.919 --> 00:13:32.080
<v Speaker 2>you're a good picture. Don't get me wrong anyway. I'm

248
00:13:32.120 --> 00:13:35.679
<v Speaker 2>fascinated by people who find themselves in prison. The man

249
00:13:35.720 --> 00:13:38.840
<v Speaker 2>who I work for to get out of prison, he

250
00:13:38.879 --> 00:13:40.480
<v Speaker 2>said to me at one point, he said, how do

251
00:13:40.559 --> 00:13:43.559
<v Speaker 2>you feel, knowing that you had nothing to do with

252
00:13:43.600 --> 00:13:46.360
<v Speaker 2>this crime, that you're truly an innocent person. You're not

253
00:13:46.440 --> 00:13:48.440
<v Speaker 2>like some of the folks in prison who always want

254
00:13:48.440 --> 00:13:51.120
<v Speaker 2>to say they're innocent, but they're really not. And he

255
00:13:51.200 --> 00:13:55.919
<v Speaker 2>said to me, he said, I know the circumstance. I mean,

256
00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:58.320
<v Speaker 2>I have to do the time. I can't let the

257
00:13:58.360 --> 00:13:59.039
<v Speaker 2>time do me.

258
00:13:59.279 --> 00:14:02.200
<v Speaker 4>That was his. That's right, that's right.

259
00:14:02.200 --> 00:14:04.519
<v Speaker 2>And I'll bet you can identify with that phrase. Let's

260
00:14:04.519 --> 00:14:06.840
<v Speaker 2>take a break, Scott. I'm going to invite people to call.

261
00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:08.240
<v Speaker 2>I don't know if they want to call or they

262
00:14:08.240 --> 00:14:10.559
<v Speaker 2>want to listen to us, but I hope some want

263
00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:15.320
<v Speaker 2>to call. Uh. And first of all, congratulate you on

264
00:14:15.600 --> 00:14:21.279
<v Speaker 2>the amazing experience that you have somehow endured and overcome

265
00:14:21.639 --> 00:14:25.159
<v Speaker 2>six seven four ten thirty six one seven nine three

266
00:14:25.200 --> 00:14:27.759
<v Speaker 2>one ten thirty. I also have told you, Scott, I

267
00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:30.480
<v Speaker 2>have lots of people listening in different places around the country,

268
00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:33.240
<v Speaker 2>and whenever I say that, all the calls come in

269
00:14:33.320 --> 00:14:37.799
<v Speaker 2>from from New England area. If you're if you're inspired

270
00:14:37.799 --> 00:14:40.519
<v Speaker 2>by this story. This is a gentleman who has gone

271
00:14:40.600 --> 00:14:43.759
<v Speaker 2>through a lot, and I hope you buy his book.

272
00:14:44.159 --> 00:14:48.159
<v Speaker 2>I do. I hope to get it myself, Absolution The

273
00:14:48.240 --> 00:14:50.360
<v Speaker 2>Dark Path to Light. Where do you hear the rest

274
00:14:50.360 --> 00:14:53.559
<v Speaker 2>of the story. He is now a self made millionaire,

275
00:14:53.639 --> 00:14:56.639
<v Speaker 2>a successful businessman. So this is a guy who not

276
00:14:56.799 --> 00:14:59.120
<v Speaker 2>just got out of prison and is like living life

277
00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:05.440
<v Speaker 2>day to day. He has taken life in overcome obstacles

278
00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:09.000
<v Speaker 2>that you and I never would have ever experienced. Back

279
00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:12.600
<v Speaker 2>on Nightside with Scott Alan Curley the book Absolution The

280
00:15:12.679 --> 00:15:14.320
<v Speaker 2>Dark Path to Light. Right after this.

281
00:15:15.080 --> 00:15:18.240
<v Speaker 1>Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World

282
00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:21.480
<v Speaker 1>Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.

283
00:15:22.399 --> 00:15:25.720
<v Speaker 2>My guess is Scott Alan Curley. Scott he is one

284
00:15:25.919 --> 00:15:31.840
<v Speaker 2>one final comment on my time playing. We played inside

285
00:15:31.840 --> 00:15:33.799
<v Speaker 2>of what was called Walpole State Prison, which was the

286
00:15:33.840 --> 00:15:38.000
<v Speaker 2>toughest prison in Massachusetts, and earlier that summer they had

287
00:15:38.000 --> 00:15:40.240
<v Speaker 2>had a riot inside the prison. So we were supposed

288
00:15:40.279 --> 00:15:42.879
<v Speaker 2>to play in July, then we ended up playing in September.

289
00:15:43.399 --> 00:15:47.519
<v Speaker 2>So at one time I bet bat against Lefty. He

290
00:15:47.600 --> 00:15:52.080
<v Speaker 2>plunked me on my left elbow, Okay, hit my pitch.

291
00:15:52.120 --> 00:15:54.480
<v Speaker 2>You know, it didn't hurt because he didn't throw that hard.

292
00:15:54.639 --> 00:15:56.440
<v Speaker 2>So I got down at first base. I'm like, again,

293
00:15:56.519 --> 00:15:59.960
<v Speaker 2>nineteen year old kid. So the first baseman I kind

294
00:15:59.919 --> 00:16:02.039
<v Speaker 2>of to complain to him. I said, man, you know,

295
00:16:02.120 --> 00:16:04.360
<v Speaker 2>so I was kind of play a tough kid, right, which,

296
00:16:04.399 --> 00:16:07.159
<v Speaker 2>of course there is a big mistake. So I said

297
00:16:07.200 --> 00:16:11.440
<v Speaker 2>to the first first basement, big big guy, I said, hey, man,

298
00:16:11.440 --> 00:16:12.399
<v Speaker 2>where'd you get this guy?

299
00:16:12.440 --> 00:16:12.639
<v Speaker 4>You know?

300
00:16:12.799 --> 00:16:15.279
<v Speaker 2>I said, he is he can't throw hardening, yeah, and

301
00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:17.399
<v Speaker 2>he has no control. The guy turned to me and

302
00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:20.639
<v Speaker 2>he says, hey, look, punk. He said, if you spend

303
00:16:20.720 --> 00:16:24.519
<v Speaker 2>the last six week in solitary confinement, your control wouldn't

304
00:16:24.559 --> 00:16:34.039
<v Speaker 2>be any good either. It was true anyway. So you

305
00:16:34.080 --> 00:16:37.000
<v Speaker 2>talk about this program, I'm wondering if there's anybody within

306
00:16:37.080 --> 00:16:39.360
<v Speaker 2>that program, because I'm a big believer in that all

307
00:16:39.399 --> 00:16:41.360
<v Speaker 2>of us have mentors in life and that at some

308
00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:44.600
<v Speaker 2>point along the line people come along who can change

309
00:16:44.600 --> 00:16:47.200
<v Speaker 2>our lives. Was it just the program or was there

310
00:16:47.240 --> 00:16:50.600
<v Speaker 2>someone in the program that helped you open your eyes?

311
00:16:51.200 --> 00:16:53.799
<v Speaker 4>Well, the program was the people. That's one thing, and

312
00:16:54.120 --> 00:16:58.080
<v Speaker 4>there's one thing that stuck with me and will stick

313
00:16:58.159 --> 00:17:00.240
<v Speaker 4>with me for the rest of my life. That when

314
00:17:00.279 --> 00:17:04.480
<v Speaker 4>I really understood this and internalized this fact, it gave

315
00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:07.160
<v Speaker 4>me a completely different perspective on life. And I'll share

316
00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:08.279
<v Speaker 4>it with you and the listeners.

317
00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:08.480
<v Speaker 6>Now.

318
00:17:09.400 --> 00:17:13.160
<v Speaker 4>They taught us that we all make mistakes, but none

319
00:17:13.200 --> 00:17:17.480
<v Speaker 4>of us is a mistake, and and so often in

320
00:17:17.519 --> 00:17:19.759
<v Speaker 4>life and I and I've done it. I did it

321
00:17:19.799 --> 00:17:24.559
<v Speaker 4>my entire childhood. I equated myself with my mistakes. And

322
00:17:24.599 --> 00:17:28.759
<v Speaker 4>when we do that, so oftentimes oftentimes we feel less

323
00:17:28.799 --> 00:17:32.160
<v Speaker 4>than and unworthy and and like we have no value,

324
00:17:32.480 --> 00:17:36.000
<v Speaker 4>and we don't feel like we're deserving of good, wonderful

325
00:17:36.039 --> 00:17:39.079
<v Speaker 4>blessings and good things, and we tend to act accordingly.

326
00:17:39.680 --> 00:17:42.119
<v Speaker 4>And so when I when I was taught that, yes,

327
00:17:42.279 --> 00:17:45.680
<v Speaker 4>we make mistakes, we sometimes make really big mistakes, but

328
00:17:45.720 --> 00:17:48.839
<v Speaker 4>it doesn't mean that we are a mistake. Then when I,

329
00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:53.519
<v Speaker 4>when I really grasped that concept, that was the beginning

330
00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:58.480
<v Speaker 4>of my transition, my mindset shift into a totally different direction.

331
00:17:59.319 --> 00:18:04.319
<v Speaker 2>That is distinction with a very clear difference. Oftentimes we

332
00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:08.799
<v Speaker 2>used to praise distinction without a difference. Boy, if you

333
00:18:08.839 --> 00:18:12.359
<v Speaker 2>were able to absorb that that thought, how did you

334
00:18:12.440 --> 00:18:15.680
<v Speaker 2>deal with the long nights in prison? I mean, I

335
00:18:15.720 --> 00:18:18.640
<v Speaker 2>would think that the worst part of the day is

336
00:18:18.640 --> 00:18:22.240
<v Speaker 2>when you're in your cell lochdown for the night and

337
00:18:22.319 --> 00:18:23.680
<v Speaker 2>you're alone with your thoughts.

338
00:18:26.400 --> 00:18:30.599
<v Speaker 4>That's when we start. That's when I really did the

339
00:18:31.720 --> 00:18:35.839
<v Speaker 4>most of my reflecting, and I realized the value of time,

340
00:18:36.720 --> 00:18:40.200
<v Speaker 4>and I made it a point to not waste my

341
00:18:40.319 --> 00:18:43.559
<v Speaker 4>time even though I was in prison. So what I

342
00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:46.400
<v Speaker 4>really tried to do, and I feel that it really

343
00:18:46.400 --> 00:18:49.119
<v Speaker 4>helped me, was I tried to educate myself as much

344
00:18:49.119 --> 00:18:50.720
<v Speaker 4>as I could while I was in prison. Ten years

345
00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.160
<v Speaker 4>is a long time. I didn't do it all in

346
00:18:52.200 --> 00:18:54.039
<v Speaker 4>one stretch. I did it over four different times, but

347
00:18:54.079 --> 00:18:57.079
<v Speaker 4>it was still ten years and ten years. But during

348
00:18:57.119 --> 00:19:00.640
<v Speaker 4>that time, I read over a thousand books, I went

349
00:19:00.720 --> 00:19:05.000
<v Speaker 4>through college programs. I did everything I could to be

350
00:19:06.160 --> 00:19:09.200
<v Speaker 4>in it, but not of it, if that makes sense.

351
00:19:11.200 --> 00:19:12.920
<v Speaker 4>I made it a point to not get involved in

352
00:19:12.960 --> 00:19:17.680
<v Speaker 4>any gangs. I didn't. There's so much temptation down there

353
00:19:17.720 --> 00:19:20.920
<v Speaker 4>to get caught up in that penitentiary mentality, in that

354
00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:24.799
<v Speaker 4>penitutuy lifestyle, and the way I carried myself was not

355
00:19:24.960 --> 00:19:28.359
<v Speaker 4>the coolest. I didn't talk the slip, slick hip and

356
00:19:28.480 --> 00:19:33.039
<v Speaker 4>cool slang that is known within the system. I just

357
00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:38.119
<v Speaker 4>made a conscious decision to use that time to prepare

358
00:19:38.160 --> 00:19:41.240
<v Speaker 4>myself for when I got out, because I did believe

359
00:19:41.240 --> 00:19:42.279
<v Speaker 4>that I would get out one day.

360
00:19:42.799 --> 00:19:45.559
<v Speaker 2>So how tough was it to be in that milieu,

361
00:19:45.640 --> 00:19:49.400
<v Speaker 2>in that set of circumstances where a lot of people

362
00:19:49.400 --> 00:19:52.240
<v Speaker 2>will say, hey, in order to get along, you got

363
00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.400
<v Speaker 2>to go along because you're not living, you're living in

364
00:19:55.400 --> 00:19:59.519
<v Speaker 2>a different society. How tough was it to have not

365
00:19:59.640 --> 00:20:04.200
<v Speaker 2>only the backbone, but the courage to deal with that system?

366
00:20:04.319 --> 00:20:08.599
<v Speaker 2>Because I'm sure that there were people who either wanted

367
00:20:08.599 --> 00:20:11.720
<v Speaker 2>to recruit you to a gang, and when you resisted,

368
00:20:12.160 --> 00:20:14.559
<v Speaker 2>they probably wanted to teach you a lesson of why

369
00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:16.599
<v Speaker 2>you should be a member of the gang. Am I

370
00:20:16.720 --> 00:20:17.519
<v Speaker 2>right or wrong on that?

371
00:20:17.880 --> 00:20:18.680
<v Speaker 3>You're right?

372
00:20:18.759 --> 00:20:21.000
<v Speaker 4>And I'm going to give away a part of my book.

373
00:20:21.240 --> 00:20:21.599
<v Speaker 2>It is.

374
00:20:22.200 --> 00:20:25.599
<v Speaker 4>It's funny and it's embarrassing, but i will share this.

375
00:20:26.440 --> 00:20:29.680
<v Speaker 4>So one thing that you cannot do in prison and

376
00:20:30.079 --> 00:20:33.559
<v Speaker 4>if you want to survive, is to not stand up

377
00:20:33.559 --> 00:20:36.759
<v Speaker 4>for yourself. And I'll be the first hit it. When

378
00:20:36.799 --> 00:20:38.680
<v Speaker 4>I was down there in my early twenties, I'm a

379
00:20:38.720 --> 00:20:42.000
<v Speaker 4>light skinned guy, I had real curly hair. They considered

380
00:20:42.039 --> 00:20:45.400
<v Speaker 4>me a quote unquote pretty boy, which I had all

381
00:20:45.480 --> 00:20:47.480
<v Speaker 4>that works against you in prison. It works well with

382
00:20:47.559 --> 00:20:50.039
<v Speaker 4>the girls when I was you know, out, but it

383
00:20:50.079 --> 00:20:51.440
<v Speaker 4>didn't work so well in prison.

384
00:20:51.559 --> 00:20:55.359
<v Speaker 2>Right so, but a roommate is what you're telling me.

385
00:20:55.839 --> 00:20:59.839
<v Speaker 4>Right yeah, so so. And I had a fear of

386
00:21:00.119 --> 00:21:02.279
<v Speaker 4>losing my teeth. There are a lot of people in

387
00:21:02.319 --> 00:21:05.200
<v Speaker 4>prison who have missing teeth, and they don't have the dentists.

388
00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:07.559
<v Speaker 4>They don't replace them, they don't give you false teeth.

389
00:21:07.880 --> 00:21:12.799
<v Speaker 4>And I was absolutely determined to not put myself in

390
00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:14.599
<v Speaker 4>a position where I got my teeth knocked out or

391
00:21:14.599 --> 00:21:16.440
<v Speaker 4>something like that. So here's the funny story. I'll give

392
00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:19.480
<v Speaker 4>it to these throuper quick, Thank god, Lester Curly. My

393
00:21:19.559 --> 00:21:23.359
<v Speaker 4>father was tough as nails. He was like he carried himself,

394
00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:26.039
<v Speaker 4>sort of like Malcolm X. And when when I was younger,

395
00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:28.559
<v Speaker 4>he taught me to box. He taught me to box

396
00:21:28.599 --> 00:21:30.680
<v Speaker 4>the right way, and he would be very hard on me,

397
00:21:31.240 --> 00:21:33.799
<v Speaker 4>and to the point where it was probably these days

398
00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:39.319
<v Speaker 4>it might even be a borderline illegal. But I did

399
00:21:39.519 --> 00:21:42.519
<v Speaker 4>understand the fundamentals of how to use my hands. So

400
00:21:42.599 --> 00:21:44.079
<v Speaker 4>there was a time, and I'll give you a very

401
00:21:44.119 --> 00:21:46.720
<v Speaker 4>short funny story, but it's what kept me going. It

402
00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:50.000
<v Speaker 4>kept me out of trouble per se, as far as

403
00:21:50.039 --> 00:21:51.680
<v Speaker 4>having to do a lot of fighting the whole time

404
00:21:51.720 --> 00:21:55.359
<v Speaker 4>I was in prison. So I was in on the unit.

405
00:21:55.400 --> 00:21:58.279
<v Speaker 4>I just hit this really tough unit called Ferguson, and

406
00:21:58.400 --> 00:22:00.960
<v Speaker 4>I had on some Jordan's and that's sort of like

407
00:22:01.000 --> 00:22:03.599
<v Speaker 4>a status symbol when you were in prison back then,

408
00:22:03.680 --> 00:22:05.920
<v Speaker 4>the only thing you have are your shoes, and if

409
00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:07.960
<v Speaker 4>the nicer your shoes are, the more status you have

410
00:22:08.039 --> 00:22:13.319
<v Speaker 4>amongst the other prisoners. Well, well, this guy approached me,

411
00:22:13.480 --> 00:22:15.960
<v Speaker 4>and I'll be the first to admit now, as I

412
00:22:17.200 --> 00:22:19.880
<v Speaker 4>felt then, I was scared to death. I will not

413
00:22:19.960 --> 00:22:22.039
<v Speaker 4>lie and say that I wasn't scared. I was absolutely

414
00:22:22.119 --> 00:22:25.720
<v Speaker 4>terrified to be in prison, especially on that unit, and

415
00:22:25.759 --> 00:22:29.720
<v Speaker 4>I was very afraid of getting hurt. So but I

416
00:22:29.759 --> 00:22:32.200
<v Speaker 4>did remember what my father taught me. And this guy

417
00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:35.039
<v Speaker 4>was approaching me, and my dad always said, if it's

418
00:22:35.079 --> 00:22:36.839
<v Speaker 4>going to go down, it's got to go down on

419
00:22:36.880 --> 00:22:41.160
<v Speaker 4>your terms. So the guy approached me and was in

420
00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:44.799
<v Speaker 4>the process I could tell of aggressively coming at me

421
00:22:44.960 --> 00:22:47.319
<v Speaker 4>because he was interested in my tennis shoes. Because he

422
00:22:47.440 --> 00:22:50.640
<v Speaker 4>mentioned it, I heard him, overheard him, and when he

423
00:22:50.680 --> 00:22:54.599
<v Speaker 4>approached me, I just by instinct hit him as hard

424
00:22:54.640 --> 00:22:56.920
<v Speaker 4>as I could with my left hand. And this is

425
00:22:56.960 --> 00:23:00.000
<v Speaker 4>nothing to boast about. It's just a funny story in hindsight.

426
00:23:00.680 --> 00:23:02.920
<v Speaker 4>And the guy was about two sixty. I was about

427
00:23:02.960 --> 00:23:05.680
<v Speaker 4>one ninety. But I hit him just in the right spot,

428
00:23:05.799 --> 00:23:09.279
<v Speaker 4>knocked him out. And now said that to say, I

429
00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:10.920
<v Speaker 4>was scared to death because, oh my god, I was

430
00:23:10.960 --> 00:23:12.680
<v Speaker 4>praying to God that he would wake up and please

431
00:23:12.839 --> 00:23:15.240
<v Speaker 4>don't die or don't being hurt, because now I'm gonna

432
00:23:15.240 --> 00:23:17.279
<v Speaker 4>get even more time. I'll never get out of prison. Right,

433
00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.640
<v Speaker 4>Thank god, he got up, Everything was okay, shook it off.

434
00:23:20.720 --> 00:23:23.440
<v Speaker 4>But that got me a nickname. And oh my god,

435
00:23:23.920 --> 00:23:25.759
<v Speaker 4>before I tell you the nickname, I'm gonna tell you.

436
00:23:25.799 --> 00:23:33.079
<v Speaker 4>In prison, everybody has the cool nicknames, hipping, slim, jazzy, red, Colorado, black, smooth,

437
00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:36.799
<v Speaker 4>all that stuff. Well, guess what they called me. They

438
00:23:36.839 --> 00:23:41.559
<v Speaker 4>called me. They called me froggy. They called me froggy

439
00:23:41.599 --> 00:23:43.680
<v Speaker 4>because they said I jumped like a frog and.

440
00:23:45.880 --> 00:23:46.480
<v Speaker 7>They said, yeah.

441
00:23:46.640 --> 00:23:48.599
<v Speaker 4>I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, can I have

442
00:23:48.599 --> 00:23:51.799
<v Speaker 4>a better nickname than froggy? And but it was it

443
00:23:51.920 --> 00:23:56.279
<v Speaker 4>was actually a show of respect because they were like,

444
00:23:56.359 --> 00:23:58.319
<v Speaker 4>don't mess with that dude. He's froggy, he'll jump.

445
00:23:58.599 --> 00:24:01.640
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, well, yes, you you you you were you did

446
00:24:02.640 --> 00:24:05.359
<v Speaker 2>You didn't want to punch the guy. You didn't sucker

447
00:24:05.359 --> 00:24:07.799
<v Speaker 2>punch the guy, because the sucker punch is when the

448
00:24:07.839 --> 00:24:11.279
<v Speaker 2>guys doesn't see it coming, he's sward coming. But but

449
00:24:11.720 --> 00:24:15.440
<v Speaker 2>you knew, you knew you better to strike first.

450
00:24:16.319 --> 00:24:16.880
<v Speaker 5>I had to.

451
00:24:17.160 --> 00:24:20.519
<v Speaker 4>And yeah, that was the one and only physical altercation

452
00:24:20.599 --> 00:24:22.279
<v Speaker 4>I ever got into in the entire time I was

453
00:24:22.279 --> 00:24:25.400
<v Speaker 4>in prison. And although I had the stupidest nickname and

454
00:24:25.519 --> 00:24:29.039
<v Speaker 4>I could never say kid it was, there was a

455
00:24:29.039 --> 00:24:31.200
<v Speaker 4>bit of respect that went with it. And that was

456
00:24:31.200 --> 00:24:32.720
<v Speaker 4>the only issue I ever had in prison with.

457
00:24:32.880 --> 00:24:35.799
<v Speaker 2>Word got around. Word got around. He wanted your kicks,

458
00:24:35.839 --> 00:24:42.200
<v Speaker 2>and uh.

459
00:24:40.119 --> 00:24:42.640
<v Speaker 4>You don't mess with a scared man. They're the most anxious.

460
00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:46.720
<v Speaker 2>All right, Uh, we got to take a quick news

461
00:24:46.720 --> 00:24:49.680
<v Speaker 2>break here. My guest is Scott Alan Curley. I want

462
00:24:49.759 --> 00:24:52.279
<v Speaker 2>to talk about your time out and what you said,

463
00:24:52.359 --> 00:24:55.880
<v Speaker 2>what you have done. We now know what you overcame,

464
00:24:56.200 --> 00:24:58.880
<v Speaker 2>but I want to talk about your triumphs. And again

465
00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:01.640
<v Speaker 2>I would love folks, particularly folks who have spent time

466
00:25:02.720 --> 00:25:05.319
<v Speaker 2>in a set of circumstances, and I have many listeners

467
00:25:05.359 --> 00:25:08.519
<v Speaker 2>in that situation feel free to join the conversation. I

468
00:25:08.559 --> 00:25:13.799
<v Speaker 2>think that it's very important to make people understand that

469
00:25:13.920 --> 00:25:17.079
<v Speaker 2>if you do make a mistake, and you pay your

470
00:25:17.119 --> 00:25:20.599
<v Speaker 2>debt to society and you come out and you can

471
00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:24.920
<v Speaker 2>get past that mistake, as the guest has, there's a

472
00:25:25.000 --> 00:25:27.480
<v Speaker 2>there's a tremendous amount of respect that should be rendered

473
00:25:27.680 --> 00:25:30.000
<v Speaker 2>by those of us who have never known what it

474
00:25:30.079 --> 00:25:32.599
<v Speaker 2>was like to be incarcerated. My name is Dan Ray.

475
00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:34.599
<v Speaker 2>This is night Side six one seven, two, five, four

476
00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.160
<v Speaker 2>ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty.

477
00:25:37.200 --> 00:25:41.319
<v Speaker 2>My guest is Scott Alan Curley, his book Absolution, The

478
00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:45.599
<v Speaker 2>Dark Path to Life. He is forty seven years old.

479
00:25:45.640 --> 00:25:48.440
<v Speaker 2>If I'm doing my math correctly, Uh. He has spent

480
00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:51.880
<v Speaker 2>ten years of his life inside of tough prisons. He

481
00:25:52.000 --> 00:25:59.240
<v Speaker 2>got off that roller coaster. He has overcome drugs, prison, sobriety, determination, relapse, homelessness,

482
00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:03.279
<v Speaker 2>and ultimately absolution. Uh. And he is now a millionaire

483
00:26:03.759 --> 00:26:08.160
<v Speaker 2>and an entrepreneur, a successful businessman, an incredible story. Back

484
00:26:08.200 --> 00:26:08.599
<v Speaker 2>on night.

485
00:26:08.559 --> 00:26:17.200
<v Speaker 1>Side, night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.

486
00:26:17.960 --> 00:26:21.599
<v Speaker 2>I guess is Scott Alan Curley his book Absolution, The

487
00:26:21.720 --> 00:26:24.839
<v Speaker 2>Dark Path to Light. Scott, what year did you get

488
00:26:24.839 --> 00:26:28.319
<v Speaker 2>out of prison. Finally you hit you hit the joints

489
00:26:29.279 --> 00:26:32.400
<v Speaker 2>at sometime in the late eighties. When was When was

490
00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:33.920
<v Speaker 2>the day you walked out for the last time.

491
00:26:35.119 --> 00:26:37.359
<v Speaker 4>Last time I walked out was in two thousand and one.

492
00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.000
<v Speaker 4>I was back on a parle violation. And I do

493
00:26:40.160 --> 00:26:42.000
<v Speaker 4>have to clarify, as much as I would like to

494
00:26:42.039 --> 00:26:44.359
<v Speaker 4>own the age forty seven, I'm actually fifty seven. I

495
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:45.759
<v Speaker 4>was born in nineteen sixty seven.

496
00:26:45.880 --> 00:26:50.440
<v Speaker 2>Okay, you know my math. My math has failed me there, Okay, okay,

497
00:26:50.480 --> 00:26:52.599
<v Speaker 2>that's okay, okay, Well that's good instead of having a

498
00:26:52.720 --> 00:26:55.319
<v Speaker 2>you know, twenty five percent. Okay, no, thank you for that,

499
00:26:55.559 --> 00:27:00.480
<v Speaker 2>for that correction, no problem. Let's I want to work

500
00:27:00.640 --> 00:27:02.960
<v Speaker 2>phone calls in here, but I also want to complete

501
00:27:02.960 --> 00:27:05.400
<v Speaker 2>the story. Let me let me grab a couple of

502
00:27:05.400 --> 00:27:07.480
<v Speaker 2>calls and we'll complete the story here. I got Jeff

503
00:27:07.480 --> 00:27:09.440
<v Speaker 2>in Brockton. Jeff, you're first. I'm going to get you

504
00:27:09.480 --> 00:27:11.200
<v Speaker 2>on here real quickly. With Scott Allen.

505
00:27:16.599 --> 00:27:19.960
<v Speaker 5>How are you man? I got I got to see. Congratulations.

506
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:23.039
<v Speaker 5>I am still on the path. I I got out

507
00:27:23.079 --> 00:27:26.079
<v Speaker 5>of prison seven years ago, and this is the first

508
00:27:26.119 --> 00:27:27.880
<v Speaker 5>time in my life I've haven't made an effort to

509
00:27:27.920 --> 00:27:29.200
<v Speaker 5>stay out.

510
00:27:29.839 --> 00:27:31.480
<v Speaker 4>I'm allow wonderful work.

511
00:27:31.559 --> 00:27:34.400
<v Speaker 5>I work two jobs full time. You know, I'm like

512
00:27:34.400 --> 00:27:37.279
<v Speaker 5>I said, I'm still on the path. I've dealt with homelessness,

513
00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:43.440
<v Speaker 5>you know, substance abuse, hurole violations. You know. I'm tempted

514
00:27:43.480 --> 00:27:48.000
<v Speaker 5>to do something stupid every every day, and if it's

515
00:27:48.039 --> 00:27:50.279
<v Speaker 5>you know, I just keep my head down, keep pushing

516
00:27:50.319 --> 00:27:55.240
<v Speaker 5>forward with work work. Why you know, I know what

517
00:27:55.359 --> 00:28:00.880
<v Speaker 5>you will. You have overcome so up, what much respect.

518
00:28:01.440 --> 00:28:03.359
<v Speaker 5>I haven't read your book yet. I'm just looking at

519
00:28:03.400 --> 00:28:04.839
<v Speaker 5>the Dan ray Am. I right home like I do

520
00:28:04.880 --> 00:28:09.000
<v Speaker 5>every night, and I'm definitely gonna be picking up your book.

521
00:28:09.000 --> 00:28:12.359
<v Speaker 4>Man. Congratulations, Thank you sir. Let me share just a

522
00:28:12.400 --> 00:28:15.839
<v Speaker 4>real quick tidbit with you, because I love and appreciate

523
00:28:15.920 --> 00:28:19.160
<v Speaker 4>that you called in and love your brother. I would recommend,

524
00:28:19.359 --> 00:28:23.079
<v Speaker 4>whenever you think about doing something that's not the best,

525
00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:25.640
<v Speaker 4>that may not be the best decision, because I think

526
00:28:25.640 --> 00:28:28.319
<v Speaker 4>about it every day all day as well, just apply

527
00:28:28.400 --> 00:28:31.160
<v Speaker 4>what I call the ten second rules before you do anything.

528
00:28:31.480 --> 00:28:35.240
<v Speaker 4>Just pause, breathe, and just take ten seconds ten seconds

529
00:28:35.240 --> 00:28:37.839
<v Speaker 4>before you make any sort of decision. And there's a

530
00:28:38.079 --> 00:28:41.000
<v Speaker 4>very good chance that if you just wait ten seconds

531
00:28:41.039 --> 00:28:43.799
<v Speaker 4>before you make that decision that your emotions are telling

532
00:28:43.839 --> 00:28:46.319
<v Speaker 4>you that you should make you more than likely will

533
00:28:46.359 --> 00:28:49.839
<v Speaker 4>not make that poor decision just takes ten seconds.

534
00:28:50.680 --> 00:28:51.640
<v Speaker 5>I'm gonna do just that.

535
00:28:52.480 --> 00:28:55.720
<v Speaker 2>Hey, Jeff, thank you for being a loyal nightside listener.

536
00:28:55.839 --> 00:28:58.680
<v Speaker 2>Congratulations to you. If you're in the midst of a

537
00:28:58.720 --> 00:29:02.759
<v Speaker 2>fight or you're gonna going to overcome it. And if

538
00:29:02.759 --> 00:29:03.359
<v Speaker 2>I can ever.

539
00:29:03.240 --> 00:29:08.880
<v Speaker 5>Be for anybody with a criminal record, I'm sorry, I

540
00:29:08.880 --> 00:29:12.839
<v Speaker 5>could not hear that. I said. The discrimination is real

541
00:29:12.920 --> 00:29:14.799
<v Speaker 5>out here for anybody with a criminal record.

542
00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:16.799
<v Speaker 8>It is.

543
00:29:16.839 --> 00:29:18.440
<v Speaker 4>That just means we have to fight a little harder.

544
00:29:18.759 --> 00:29:20.599
<v Speaker 4>That's all I got.

545
00:29:20.680 --> 00:29:23.519
<v Speaker 5>Lucky. A guy gave me a chance and I and

546
00:29:23.559 --> 00:29:24.519
<v Speaker 5>I'm making the best of it.

547
00:29:24.960 --> 00:29:27.319
<v Speaker 4>You know, man, you're proud.

548
00:29:28.359 --> 00:29:30.720
<v Speaker 5>Thank you. Congratulations, stay out right.

549
00:29:30.599 --> 00:29:34.519
<v Speaker 2>Back at you. Congratulations, appreciate it.

550
00:29:35.119 --> 00:29:35.319
<v Speaker 6>Thanks.

551
00:29:36.720 --> 00:29:39.680
<v Speaker 2>That's that's a guy who's listening every night. Let me

552
00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:43.279
<v Speaker 2>go to Marty and Florida and Saint Augustine, Florida. Marty,

553
00:29:43.400 --> 00:29:47.240
<v Speaker 2>you're on with my guest Scott Alan, Curly Scott. I

554
00:29:47.240 --> 00:29:50.640
<v Speaker 2>will tell you this is a former police officer, former

555
00:29:50.680 --> 00:29:52.119
<v Speaker 2>New York City police officer.

556
00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:58.599
<v Speaker 4>But I suspect ahead.

557
00:30:00.039 --> 00:30:02.559
<v Speaker 6>I went on in nineteen seventy I got promoted to

558
00:30:02.640 --> 00:30:06.400
<v Speaker 6>sergeant in nineteen eighty five. I retired in nineteen ninety.

559
00:30:06.519 --> 00:30:09.200
<v Speaker 6>Let me just tell you something. First of all, like

560
00:30:09.240 --> 00:30:11.960
<v Speaker 6>a a friend of mine in Long Island who was

561
00:30:12.079 --> 00:30:15.559
<v Speaker 6>mentoring a felon, and it's certainly he had an argument

562
00:30:15.559 --> 00:30:18.160
<v Speaker 6>with his girlfriend and he's tried to choke her. And

563
00:30:18.200 --> 00:30:21.400
<v Speaker 6>they made a new law in New York called criminal strangulation,

564
00:30:21.519 --> 00:30:24.759
<v Speaker 6>which is a felony. So this guy became a felon,

565
00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:27.160
<v Speaker 6>and he's the nicest guy in the world. And when

566
00:30:27.200 --> 00:30:28.920
<v Speaker 6>I go to New York to visit him, I say

567
00:30:29.119 --> 00:30:31.720
<v Speaker 6>his name is Michael. I said, Mike, you're a felon,

568
00:30:31.799 --> 00:30:35.599
<v Speaker 6>but you're not a crook. Okay, that's number one. Number

569
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:38.799
<v Speaker 6>two Martha Stewart is a felon, and I couldn't afford

570
00:30:38.839 --> 00:30:40.960
<v Speaker 6>to live next to her for a pispic. I what

571
00:30:41.119 --> 00:30:45.160
<v Speaker 6>you call it insider trading? Okay, number three. A few

572
00:30:45.240 --> 00:30:49.440
<v Speaker 6>years ago in Florida, they had Proposition four. Well, they

573
00:30:49.519 --> 00:30:52.799
<v Speaker 6>want to give felons, except if you're a sexual violator

574
00:30:52.880 --> 00:30:55.200
<v Speaker 6>or murderer, they want to give you back the right

575
00:30:55.240 --> 00:30:58.240
<v Speaker 6>to vote. I voted yes. The Republican Party said vote no.

576
00:30:58.759 --> 00:31:01.839
<v Speaker 6>And now felon's can just walk in and vote as

577
00:31:01.880 --> 00:31:05.599
<v Speaker 6>long as they are paid up all all their dues whatever. Okay,

578
00:31:05.920 --> 00:31:08.960
<v Speaker 6>and I do agree. One thing I don't like is,

579
00:31:09.000 --> 00:31:10.960
<v Speaker 6>and this has nothing to do with the felons, but

580
00:31:11.039 --> 00:31:13.519
<v Speaker 6>when you come out of prison or whatever your felon,

581
00:31:13.599 --> 00:31:15.519
<v Speaker 6>it's like you might as well be dead because it's

582
00:31:15.519 --> 00:31:18.720
<v Speaker 6>supposedly hard to get a job. And that I think

583
00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:21.079
<v Speaker 6>that there are a lot of people out there, Goodie

584
00:31:21.079 --> 00:31:24.079
<v Speaker 6>good He's who I hate. I love felons and I

585
00:31:24.119 --> 00:31:27.720
<v Speaker 6>love homeless people. My next door neighbor was a skinhead

586
00:31:27.759 --> 00:31:30.480
<v Speaker 6>in California. He did eight years in prison, shot up

587
00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:34.039
<v Speaker 6>a bar, and now he's working in the local his

588
00:31:34.039 --> 00:31:36.440
<v Speaker 6>His only problem is he's a drinker, but he's working

589
00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:39.759
<v Speaker 6>in the local hospital. He's very proud of his job,

590
00:31:40.119 --> 00:31:42.359
<v Speaker 6>and his family has a key to my house. So

591
00:31:42.720 --> 00:31:46.079
<v Speaker 6>I tell people, felon doesn't mean a crook, right, And

592
00:31:47.079 --> 00:31:50.880
<v Speaker 6>we were appreciated When I was in New York during

593
00:31:50.920 --> 00:31:54.920
<v Speaker 6>the before I retired, a life sentence in New York

594
00:31:55.079 --> 00:31:59.160
<v Speaker 6>was usually about eight years, and that's ridiculous. But I've

595
00:31:59.200 --> 00:32:02.440
<v Speaker 6>met people in screed who said, well, I serve time

596
00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:05.839
<v Speaker 6>for manslaughter. I killed an FBI agent. I don't like

597
00:32:05.880 --> 00:32:10.160
<v Speaker 6>when people braggs. But I totally support your guests, and

598
00:32:10.240 --> 00:32:12.920
<v Speaker 6>I want to thank him and everybody out there. I'm

599
00:32:12.920 --> 00:32:14.720
<v Speaker 6>going to tell you right now I would hire a

600
00:32:14.759 --> 00:32:17.559
<v Speaker 6>fellon in a minute, but I don't like to hire drunks.

601
00:32:17.759 --> 00:32:20.000
<v Speaker 6>So he knows somebody that's a fella, and give the

602
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:22.400
<v Speaker 6>guy a break because he's trying to make something that.

603
00:32:22.440 --> 00:32:24.799
<v Speaker 2>It all right, mighty, Thank you man. We'll talk soon, Okay,

604
00:32:24.839 --> 00:32:26.039
<v Speaker 2>thanks Welby show.

605
00:32:26.240 --> 00:32:27.400
<v Speaker 4>Thank you, Rody.

606
00:32:27.559 --> 00:32:29.319
<v Speaker 2>You can tell from Marty he's in New York and

607
00:32:29.359 --> 00:32:31.400
<v Speaker 2>he's got that classic New York accent. Let me go

608
00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:36.680
<v Speaker 2>to Sherry out Sherry in Houston, Texas. Erry, I suspect

609
00:32:36.720 --> 00:32:38.720
<v Speaker 2>that you may be a friend of our guest if

610
00:32:38.759 --> 00:32:41.200
<v Speaker 2>you're a regular listener to Night Side. Welcome either way,

611
00:32:41.319 --> 00:32:42.240
<v Speaker 2>go right ahead, Sherry.

612
00:32:43.240 --> 00:32:46.880
<v Speaker 7>This is my first time. Hi Scott, it's your classmate,

613
00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:53.079
<v Speaker 7>Sherry Morgan. And oh and I wanted to call in.

614
00:32:53.160 --> 00:32:56.119
<v Speaker 7>I know me and some of our other classmates are listening,

615
00:32:56.440 --> 00:32:59.799
<v Speaker 7>but I wanted to call in and personally, I just

616
00:32:59.839 --> 00:33:04.799
<v Speaker 7>want to tell you Scott. You know, we went to

617
00:33:04.839 --> 00:33:09.039
<v Speaker 7>school together. We we we've.

618
00:33:07.759 --> 00:33:08.519
<v Speaker 6>Been through a lot.

619
00:33:09.079 --> 00:33:11.400
<v Speaker 7>Uh, we've probably seen each other at our words our best.

620
00:33:11.400 --> 00:33:15.200
<v Speaker 7>We've all gone through things and since graduating from high school,

621
00:33:15.599 --> 00:33:18.720
<v Speaker 7>all of us, we've all gone in different directions. And

622
00:33:18.759 --> 00:33:20.640
<v Speaker 7>the truth is, we all have a story.

623
00:33:21.200 --> 00:33:21.680
<v Speaker 2>Uh.

624
00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:25.559
<v Speaker 7>I have your book, and the truth is I've read

625
00:33:25.759 --> 00:33:27.960
<v Speaker 7>just a couple of pages. I haven't read all of it,

626
00:33:29.880 --> 00:33:30.240
<v Speaker 7>and and.

627
00:33:30.480 --> 00:33:31.079
<v Speaker 6>I'm going to.

628
00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:34.200
<v Speaker 7>But I just want to let you know that, in

629
00:33:34.279 --> 00:33:38.559
<v Speaker 7>spite of all that you've been through, Uh, I'm proud

630
00:33:38.559 --> 00:33:42.319
<v Speaker 7>of you because it's like you say, you know, turn

631
00:33:42.440 --> 00:33:47.039
<v Speaker 7>lemons into lemonade. Uh, that's what you've done. I looked

632
00:33:47.039 --> 00:33:49.720
<v Speaker 7>at you at the at at our last class of union,

633
00:33:49.720 --> 00:33:53.799
<v Speaker 7>and I thought, I mean, I just the things that

634
00:33:53.839 --> 00:34:00.000
<v Speaker 7>you've accomplished. You didn't let the things get the best

635
00:34:00.039 --> 00:34:01.839
<v Speaker 7>of you, and even when you were down, but look

636
00:34:01.880 --> 00:34:04.720
<v Speaker 7>where you are now. Uh. And I'm just thankful to

637
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:08.280
<v Speaker 7>God that that you are doing great things. And I

638
00:34:08.400 --> 00:34:12.360
<v Speaker 7>pray that you continue to do great things and uh,

639
00:34:13.000 --> 00:34:16.320
<v Speaker 7>just reaching out telling your story, helping other people. But

640
00:34:16.519 --> 00:34:19.440
<v Speaker 7>you know, as your classmate, I know, I'm I'm proud

641
00:34:19.440 --> 00:34:20.119
<v Speaker 7>of you so much.

642
00:34:20.360 --> 00:34:22.039
<v Speaker 4>Thank you so much, Scherry, and I love you, and

643
00:34:22.079 --> 00:34:24.000
<v Speaker 4>I'm proud to be proud to call you my friend.

644
00:34:24.199 --> 00:34:26.519
<v Speaker 4>I have to say something real quick about. Sherry said,

645
00:34:26.519 --> 00:34:28.039
<v Speaker 4>I'm gonna go ahead and put her out there since

646
00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:31.880
<v Speaker 4>she called Cherry was my friend in school that she

647
00:34:32.000 --> 00:34:34.159
<v Speaker 4>didn't know it, but she lit up my day almost

648
00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:36.280
<v Speaker 4>every day. Because Sherry, I could do almost anything and

649
00:34:36.320 --> 00:34:38.360
<v Speaker 4>make it she. I could make her laugh and see

650
00:34:38.400 --> 00:34:42.840
<v Speaker 4>that she had the most infectious natural laugh. And even

651
00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:45.480
<v Speaker 4>when I was down, I would just do something stupid

652
00:34:45.840 --> 00:34:48.400
<v Speaker 4>and Cherry would just giggle and laugh. And I get

653
00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:51.480
<v Speaker 4>her in trouble, and she and I get in trouble.

654
00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:53.840
<v Speaker 4>But it was worth it because it was so much

655
00:34:53.880 --> 00:34:54.480
<v Speaker 4>joy to us.

656
00:34:54.679 --> 00:34:55.199
<v Speaker 5>Yes, it was.

657
00:34:55.360 --> 00:34:57.599
<v Speaker 4>Yes, So I have so much love for Sarry. Thank you,

658
00:34:57.800 --> 00:34:59.239
<v Speaker 4>thank you for that, Sherry.

659
00:34:59.039 --> 00:35:01.400
<v Speaker 2>Thanks, thank you for ca And you said first time calling.

660
00:35:01.480 --> 00:35:03.280
<v Speaker 2>We always get first time callers a round of the

661
00:35:03.360 --> 00:35:05.679
<v Speaker 2>calls here on night side. So I don't know if

662
00:35:05.719 --> 00:35:08.320
<v Speaker 2>you've ever listened before. I suspect that probably you knew.

663
00:35:08.760 --> 00:35:11.159
<v Speaker 2>You knew Scott was going to be on, but I hope.

664
00:35:11.199 --> 00:35:15.039
<v Speaker 7>I did Facebook post and I said, you know, another classmate,

665
00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:19.800
<v Speaker 7>I said, look, I was going to call in socheck check.

666
00:35:19.639 --> 00:35:21.159
<v Speaker 2>In every once in a while. We did a lot

667
00:35:21.159 --> 00:35:23.559
<v Speaker 2>of interesting shows up here, and uh, we have a

668
00:35:23.559 --> 00:35:25.519
<v Speaker 2>lot of listeners in Texas believe it or not to

669
00:35:25.599 --> 00:35:26.599
<v Speaker 2>listen to us regularly.

670
00:35:26.760 --> 00:35:31.239
<v Speaker 6>Thanks, thank you, Okay, thank you, Scott.

671
00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:33.559
<v Speaker 4>Bye, this is great.

672
00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:35.519
<v Speaker 2>Look, Scott, I got to take one final quick break.

673
00:35:35.519 --> 00:35:39.280
<v Speaker 2>I do want to talk about your success. And we

674
00:35:39.360 --> 00:35:41.119
<v Speaker 2>got a bunch of calls as well, and we'll try

675
00:35:41.119 --> 00:35:43.119
<v Speaker 2>to get them in as well, but we'll get it

676
00:35:43.159 --> 00:35:45.039
<v Speaker 2>all none by eleven. I promise. That's what we do

677
00:35:45.079 --> 00:35:48.239
<v Speaker 2>here every night. All right, my guest to Scott Allen

678
00:35:48.519 --> 00:35:51.480
<v Speaker 2>Curly the book Absolution, The Dark Path to Life. This

679
00:35:51.559 --> 00:35:53.679
<v Speaker 2>is one I think you want to get, folks. Okay,

680
00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:58.119
<v Speaker 2>we I believe in this gentleman, and I hope you

681
00:35:58.159 --> 00:36:01.960
<v Speaker 2>can hear in his voice the ring of truth and integrity.

682
00:36:02.000 --> 00:36:05.800
<v Speaker 2>And he has been there and got back and not

683
00:36:05.920 --> 00:36:08.679
<v Speaker 2>many people do that, but he he set an example.

684
00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:10.599
<v Speaker 2>We'll be back on Nightside. We got a couple of

685
00:36:10.599 --> 00:36:15.400
<v Speaker 2>lines open six one, seven, nine, six, seven, ten thirty.

686
00:36:15.440 --> 00:36:16.920
<v Speaker 2>Coming right back on Nightside.

687
00:36:17.960 --> 00:36:20.880
<v Speaker 1>Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World

688
00:36:21.079 --> 00:36:24.119
<v Speaker 1>Night Saint Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.

689
00:36:25.920 --> 00:36:29.440
<v Speaker 2>Unfortunately, this hour's moving too quickly. Scott Alan Curley is

690
00:36:29.440 --> 00:36:32.840
<v Speaker 2>my guest. Scott spent time. He's fifty seven, young man

691
00:36:32.880 --> 00:36:36.400
<v Speaker 2>as far as I'm Concerned, spent ten years over a

692
00:36:36.480 --> 00:36:39.559
<v Speaker 2>period at various periods of time in prison, and is

693
00:36:39.599 --> 00:36:42.519
<v Speaker 2>now a self made millionaire of his book Absolution The

694
00:36:42.599 --> 00:36:45.760
<v Speaker 2>Dark Path to Light. What did you do once you

695
00:36:45.840 --> 00:36:48.079
<v Speaker 2>get out in two thousand and one for the final time?

696
00:36:48.199 --> 00:36:52.320
<v Speaker 2>What what? What career path have you followed? Which one

697
00:36:52.360 --> 00:36:57.800
<v Speaker 2>allowed you to succeed and also allowed you to accumulate wealth? Well?

698
00:36:58.000 --> 00:37:01.440
<v Speaker 4>I started, I started doing what I'd been doing all along,

699
00:37:01.480 --> 00:37:04.039
<v Speaker 4>but I just started doing it legally. I started I

700
00:37:04.079 --> 00:37:07.039
<v Speaker 4>was working, started working in sales. So when I was in,

701
00:37:07.840 --> 00:37:10.039
<v Speaker 4>when I was out in the streets hustling and doing

702
00:37:10.039 --> 00:37:12.960
<v Speaker 4>all the bad things. Uh, the way that I got

703
00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:18.159
<v Speaker 4>what I wanted was by talking myself into getting people

704
00:37:18.159 --> 00:37:20.800
<v Speaker 4>to give me what I wanted. And some people could

705
00:37:20.800 --> 00:37:23.000
<v Speaker 4>call it being a con artist or or whatever, but

706
00:37:23.639 --> 00:37:26.400
<v Speaker 4>I did have thanks to Annie Curley, my mother, she

707
00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:33.519
<v Speaker 4>required She forced me to speak good, proper English and

708
00:37:33.519 --> 00:37:36.800
<v Speaker 4>and to be a strong communicator. And so when I

709
00:37:36.800 --> 00:37:38.960
<v Speaker 4>got out, I just started I had that natural skill

710
00:37:39.000 --> 00:37:41.960
<v Speaker 4>set and I just started using it in the professional world.

711
00:37:42.039 --> 00:37:45.199
<v Speaker 4>And I realized pretty quickly that I had a knack

712
00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:48.360
<v Speaker 4>for sales. And so that's that was my first Uh,

713
00:37:49.159 --> 00:37:51.000
<v Speaker 4>professional type position.

714
00:37:51.400 --> 00:37:53.679
<v Speaker 2>So what type of sales were you involved in.

715
00:37:54.880 --> 00:37:57.119
<v Speaker 4>I had the worst, the worst sales job. I was

716
00:37:57.159 --> 00:38:01.239
<v Speaker 4>working for a company that that UH sold. It was

717
00:38:01.280 --> 00:38:03.400
<v Speaker 4>retention sales. Back in the day, this was in the

718
00:38:03.440 --> 00:38:06.119
<v Speaker 4>early two thousands, they used to have these credit card

719
00:38:06.199 --> 00:38:09.719
<v Speaker 4>enhancement programs where UH these credit card companies, and I

720
00:38:09.800 --> 00:38:12.199
<v Speaker 4>feel like it was a scam. In fact, I'm pretty

721
00:38:12.199 --> 00:38:14.760
<v Speaker 4>sure that it was where they would they would have

722
00:38:14.960 --> 00:38:16.960
<v Speaker 4>h on they would have you sign up for these

723
00:38:17.039 --> 00:38:21.079
<v Speaker 4>quote unquote programs for dental benefits and dining benefits and

724
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:24.280
<v Speaker 4>all that, and and you and people would be paying

725
00:38:24.280 --> 00:38:26.719
<v Speaker 4>for it not know it, and then after three or

726
00:38:26.719 --> 00:38:29.159
<v Speaker 4>four months they would notice it on their bill and

727
00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:30.920
<v Speaker 4>then they would charge. They would call the cut that

728
00:38:31.039 --> 00:38:33.320
<v Speaker 4>number on the back of the card and cuss out

729
00:38:33.360 --> 00:38:36.239
<v Speaker 4>whoever they get on the phone. And my job was

730
00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:40.199
<v Speaker 4>to take take that take that call and somehow convinced

731
00:38:40.239 --> 00:38:41.360
<v Speaker 4>them to keep the program.

732
00:38:41.519 --> 00:38:46.760
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so I'm a millionaire doing that. How'd you how'd

733
00:38:46.800 --> 00:38:48.280
<v Speaker 2>you how'd you accumulate wealth?

734
00:38:48.880 --> 00:38:51.119
<v Speaker 4>Well? Well that was my that was how I cut

735
00:38:51.119 --> 00:38:53.199
<v Speaker 4>my teeth. And you know how I realized that I

736
00:38:53.400 --> 00:38:55.360
<v Speaker 4>that I had a knack for sales. But then I

737
00:38:55.400 --> 00:38:59.280
<v Speaker 4>got into the tax resolution in sales, and and uh,

738
00:38:59.440 --> 00:39:01.320
<v Speaker 4>you know, we don't have enough time to really get

739
00:39:01.320 --> 00:39:04.639
<v Speaker 4>into how it all happened. But okay, but but the

740
00:39:04.679 --> 00:39:08.880
<v Speaker 4>short of it is that the conversation and having the

741
00:39:08.920 --> 00:39:12.440
<v Speaker 4>ability to effectively communicate will open all sorts of doors

742
00:39:12.440 --> 00:39:12.960
<v Speaker 4>for you and I.

743
00:39:13.199 --> 00:39:15.880
<v Speaker 2>That's what is as simple as that.

744
00:39:16.000 --> 00:39:20.559
<v Speaker 4>I just talk and and and it it opens so

745
00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:23.519
<v Speaker 4>many doors. And and uh, I want to I know

746
00:39:23.599 --> 00:39:27.079
<v Speaker 4>we don't have much time, but to to your point

747
00:39:27.119 --> 00:39:29.079
<v Speaker 4>when you ask, how did I get to where I'm

748
00:39:29.320 --> 00:39:31.159
<v Speaker 4>where I am and where I hope to continue to

749
00:39:31.159 --> 00:39:32.719
<v Speaker 4>go because I feel like I still have a lot

750
00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:38.800
<v Speaker 4>more work to do. People tend to misunderstand and and

751
00:39:39.159 --> 00:39:43.599
<v Speaker 4>misconstrue the difference between barriers and obstacles. A barrier is

752
00:39:43.639 --> 00:39:46.119
<v Speaker 4>something that you cannot get through. You can't penetrate it,

753
00:39:46.119 --> 00:39:47.800
<v Speaker 4>you can't get over it, you can't get under it,

754
00:39:47.840 --> 00:39:50.800
<v Speaker 4>you can't get around it. An obstacle, on the other hand,

755
00:39:50.880 --> 00:39:53.000
<v Speaker 4>is something that you can get around and you can

756
00:39:53.079 --> 00:39:55.639
<v Speaker 4>get over and you can get through it. The problem

757
00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:58.840
<v Speaker 4>that many of us are let me rephrase that, the

758
00:39:58.960 --> 00:40:01.760
<v Speaker 4>challenge that many of us spaces that we confuse barriers

759
00:40:01.760 --> 00:40:05.599
<v Speaker 4>with obstacles. In many cases, some of us, we're all

760
00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:10.519
<v Speaker 4>guilty of it, will encounter a difficult situation and we

761
00:40:10.559 --> 00:40:13.519
<v Speaker 4>will perceive it as being a barrier, and in many

762
00:40:13.519 --> 00:40:16.880
<v Speaker 4>cases we'll stop trying to push forward. But in most

763
00:40:16.920 --> 00:40:21.559
<v Speaker 4>cases that perceived barrier is actually just an obstacle. The

764
00:40:21.599 --> 00:40:26.320
<v Speaker 4>world in general is filled with obstacles. There's one obstacle

765
00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:29.519
<v Speaker 4>after another, but it doesn't really have a whole lot

766
00:40:29.519 --> 00:40:30.320
<v Speaker 4>of barriers.

767
00:40:30.360 --> 00:40:30.639
<v Speaker 2>Though.

768
00:40:30.719 --> 00:40:34.039
<v Speaker 4>There are a lot of perceived barriers, But those perceived

769
00:40:34.079 --> 00:40:36.679
<v Speaker 4>barriers are actually not barriers, They're just obstacles.

770
00:40:36.760 --> 00:40:38.719
<v Speaker 2>That is a great philosophy. I got a couple more

771
00:40:38.719 --> 00:40:40.440
<v Speaker 2>calls I want to get in. One is from Houston.

772
00:40:40.480 --> 00:40:45.519
<v Speaker 2>We're going to take first, LeAnn, who's calling from Massachusetts, Attleborough, Massachusetts. Leanne,

773
00:40:45.519 --> 00:40:47.119
<v Speaker 2>I know you've been waiting a little bit, but I'll

774
00:40:47.199 --> 00:40:48.639
<v Speaker 2>ask you to be quick so we can get one

775
00:40:48.639 --> 00:40:51.559
<v Speaker 2>more person in from Houston. Go ahead, Leanne.

776
00:40:52.159 --> 00:40:55.760
<v Speaker 9>Hello, good to talk to you Dan and Scott. First, Scott,

777
00:40:56.320 --> 00:40:59.000
<v Speaker 9>thank you for being the inspiration that you are both

778
00:40:59.039 --> 00:41:03.400
<v Speaker 9>to the incarceration those on the outside, because success stories

779
00:41:03.400 --> 00:41:06.239
<v Speaker 9>such of you as yours are few and far between.

780
00:41:06.360 --> 00:41:11.639
<v Speaker 9>As you know, I have a question about the title

781
00:41:11.679 --> 00:41:15.559
<v Speaker 9>of your book, Absolution the Dark Path to Light. Since

782
00:41:15.679 --> 00:41:22.880
<v Speaker 9>absolution means forgiveness of sins, I'm curious as to whether

783
00:41:23.079 --> 00:41:27.400
<v Speaker 9>you attribute any of your success and soundness of mind

784
00:41:28.039 --> 00:41:32.119
<v Speaker 9>to a faith based experience or a relationship with God

785
00:41:32.440 --> 00:41:33.400
<v Speaker 9>or anything like that.

786
00:41:33.639 --> 00:41:36.239
<v Speaker 2>All right, go ahead, Scott, all the above.

787
00:41:36.400 --> 00:41:38.840
<v Speaker 4>There's no way that I could ever be where I

788
00:41:38.880 --> 00:41:41.679
<v Speaker 4>am now if I weren't a able to forgive myself

789
00:41:41.719 --> 00:41:44.559
<v Speaker 4>and be able to forgive the people that hurt me.

790
00:41:46.000 --> 00:41:49.280
<v Speaker 4>And so that is the short, short answer to that question.

791
00:41:50.079 --> 00:41:57.440
<v Speaker 4>Carry around carrying that burden of non forgiveness is very

792
00:41:57.519 --> 00:42:00.280
<v Speaker 4>very heavy. It's very heavy and a weigh down. And

793
00:42:00.360 --> 00:42:03.199
<v Speaker 4>so when I was able to forgive myself first of all,

794
00:42:03.760 --> 00:42:06.800
<v Speaker 4>and then forgive others who harmed me, and I pray

795
00:42:06.880 --> 00:42:09.639
<v Speaker 4>that they forgive and ask for forgiveness that they forget

796
00:42:09.679 --> 00:42:13.000
<v Speaker 4>you know me as well, then that paved the way

797
00:42:13.039 --> 00:42:14.920
<v Speaker 4>for me to be able to do all sorts of

798
00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:16.159
<v Speaker 4>wonderful things.

799
00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:18.800
<v Speaker 2>Leanne, great question. I want to get one more in.

800
00:42:19.000 --> 00:42:21.880
<v Speaker 2>Thanks Lee, And that's an excellent question. And I should

801
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:23.760
<v Speaker 2>have I should have thought of that one myself.

802
00:42:23.800 --> 00:42:27.159
<v Speaker 9>Thank you, all right, thank you, good night.

803
00:42:27.199 --> 00:42:29.719
<v Speaker 2>Let me go back to Houston. Keith is in Houston, Keith,

804
00:42:29.800 --> 00:42:32.719
<v Speaker 2>you were on with Scott Allen Curley go right ahead

805
00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:34.599
<v Speaker 2>on WBZ and Boston Keith, go right ahead.

806
00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:37.159
<v Speaker 8>Hey Dan, you're from one of my favorite cities on

807
00:42:37.280 --> 00:42:40.760
<v Speaker 8>Protectas I grew up with Scott, I just wanted to

808
00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:45.519
<v Speaker 8>pass along something real quick. We're longtime friends, Yes, we're are.

809
00:42:45.679 --> 00:42:51.599
<v Speaker 8>His story, his story is real. And I remember going

810
00:42:51.639 --> 00:42:54.280
<v Speaker 8>to his house and hanging out with his parents, Lester

811
00:42:54.400 --> 00:42:58.639
<v Speaker 8>and Annie Curly. And what was interesting was, now that

812
00:42:58.719 --> 00:43:03.480
<v Speaker 8>I think back on it, how accommodating and loving they

813
00:43:03.519 --> 00:43:09.000
<v Speaker 8>were to the friends and me, and they welcomed us,

814
00:43:10.280 --> 00:43:13.079
<v Speaker 8>wanted us to hang out. She would ask me if

815
00:43:13.119 --> 00:43:17.679
<v Speaker 8>she could cook me anything. And it was a long

816
00:43:17.760 --> 00:43:22.440
<v Speaker 8>long time before I realizing. Me and Scott talked and

817
00:43:22.559 --> 00:43:25.760
<v Speaker 8>he confided in me different things that it had happened

818
00:43:25.760 --> 00:43:29.039
<v Speaker 8>in his life that I didn't even know back back

819
00:43:29.079 --> 00:43:31.880
<v Speaker 8>at that time. So my point is is that you

820
00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:34.920
<v Speaker 8>never know what people are going through. It's easy to

821
00:43:34.960 --> 00:43:37.599
<v Speaker 8>make a judgment about a family or people and friends

822
00:43:37.719 --> 00:43:40.599
<v Speaker 8>or whoever it may be, but you really don't know

823
00:43:40.639 --> 00:43:46.079
<v Speaker 8>a lot of times. And Scott's story, you know, it

824
00:43:46.159 --> 00:43:48.320
<v Speaker 8>took control of me and him we're in our fifties

825
00:43:48.400 --> 00:43:51.199
<v Speaker 8>to finally reveal and tell me about a lot of this.

826
00:43:51.360 --> 00:43:54.719
<v Speaker 8>So it's just an interesting part of life and it's

827
00:43:54.760 --> 00:43:58.719
<v Speaker 8>taught me life lessons up until this day. Yes, Scott's

828
00:43:58.760 --> 00:44:02.719
<v Speaker 8>story is part of that. And even even though I

829
00:44:02.760 --> 00:44:06.000
<v Speaker 8>knew his family well I thought I did. We hung

830
00:44:06.039 --> 00:44:08.480
<v Speaker 8>out together and did a lot of things together and

831
00:44:08.480 --> 00:44:11.119
<v Speaker 8>had a lot of life experiences together. But you never

832
00:44:11.280 --> 00:44:14.119
<v Speaker 8>know really what people are going through.

833
00:44:14.480 --> 00:44:17.360
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely, Keith, Keith, I'm flat out of time, so I

834
00:44:17.400 --> 00:44:19.159
<v Speaker 2>got to let you go. But I hope you'll continue

835
00:44:19.199 --> 00:44:21.320
<v Speaker 2>to listen to my show. We do a variety of

836
00:44:21.360 --> 00:44:24.159
<v Speaker 2>issues up here, and I think you have a better

837
00:44:24.199 --> 00:44:26.719
<v Speaker 2>sense of what this show is all about having listened tonight.

838
00:44:26.760 --> 00:44:30.280
<v Speaker 2>Thank you for listening, all right, Keith got Thank you

839
00:44:30.320 --> 00:44:36.719
<v Speaker 2>Keith Scott, Alan Curley a great hour. Absolution The Dark

840
00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:41.239
<v Speaker 2>Path to Light. The book is available and Amazon, I

841
00:44:41.239 --> 00:44:42.000
<v Speaker 2>assume everywhere.

842
00:44:42.079 --> 00:44:45.880
<v Speaker 4>Right Amazon, you can buy it in barns and now

843
00:44:45.880 --> 00:44:48.280
<v Speaker 4>will go to any anywhere books are sold, either online

844
00:44:48.360 --> 00:44:49.800
<v Speaker 4>or in stores. You can find it. If it's not

845
00:44:49.840 --> 00:44:51.920
<v Speaker 4>in the bookstore, so just go to the front count

846
00:44:51.960 --> 00:44:53.519
<v Speaker 4>and make an order for you to have it for

847
00:44:53.559 --> 00:44:54.199
<v Speaker 4>you the next day.

848
00:44:54.440 --> 00:44:57.000
<v Speaker 2>Sounds great, Scott Alan Curley, I hope to meet you

849
00:44:57.079 --> 00:44:59.840
<v Speaker 2>someday if I get down your way, you get up

850
00:44:59.840 --> 00:45:05.519
<v Speaker 2>to way. You are an inspiration and I feel I

851
00:45:05.599 --> 00:45:07.480
<v Speaker 2>know you have to have spent an hour with you,

852
00:45:07.599 --> 00:45:10.320
<v Speaker 2>and you're an extraordinary person. Thank you so much for being.

853
00:45:10.199 --> 00:45:12.719
<v Speaker 4>I really appreciate you. Dan, you have a wonderful rest

854
00:45:12.719 --> 00:45:14.519
<v Speaker 4>of your evening. And to your listeners, I thank them

855
00:45:14.559 --> 00:45:16.079
<v Speaker 4>all and God bless all of you. Guys.

856
00:45:16.280 --> 00:45:18.519
<v Speaker 2>Right back at you, well we come back. We got

857
00:45:18.559 --> 00:45:20.840
<v Speaker 2>one more hour to go. Right after the eleven o'clock

858
00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:23.079
<v Speaker 2>news here on night Side on a Wednesday night,