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She is such a wonderful person ... she is a doer — not a talker. [Stephanie is the classic example of] the difference [that] just one person can make. [She] inspire[s] people to find one cause that they believe in. — Glenys Alderton Some of you will know that I have been writing this column for almost three years now. Since my mailing address appears at the end, I get a lot of reader feedback. In equal measure the letters come from both doers and talkers. This column is not usual in its content or purpose. It is about sharing and, in so doing, exposing the vastness of the indomitable human spirit despite equally human restrictions. Thus it is only natural that Stephanie Wilkinson's name comes to mind. You see, there are people all over the world — even as I write this — being gently touched by the purity of her heart. A while back Stephanie started Australians Against Executions. Its function is to gather up people willing to correspond with, and befriend, men and women on death row. Such an organisation is sorely needed in America, because the majority of Americans do not recognise the humanity of death row prisoners. At last count her organisation's membership was beyond 400, and is still growing. Unfortunately, too many people these days are listening to the compassionless talk/rantings of certain politicians. These people, and those politicians, seem unable or unwilling to realise that sincere and concerted acts of kindness and compassion are as constructive as they are contagious. At some point I hope that the logic of compassion becomes an epidemic, for history shows that kindness, logic and compassion feed off themselves. Consider the following example. At the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center (GDCC), the death row just 80 kilometres south of Atlanta, Georgia, no less than seven prisoners are trying to pass on the kindness and compassion to others in need that Stephanie and her organisation have shared with us. Several men here are now spending most of their time crocheting afghans (also called futon covers) for charity. It was Stephanie who first contributed a worthy sum of money for an afghan, but magnanimously instructed us to give it to a needy person. Shortly thereafter others followed suit and ordered afghans to be made and sent to places like Queanbeyan, Australia; London, England; and Ontario, Canada. After a number of donations — and the afghans made and sent out — the accumulated monies are sent to trusted organisations that help to feed those in need, in particular the men, women and children who are forced to live on the streets in America. I suspect that without Stephanie's initial donation we would not have been able to have sent cheques of US$175 each, to Sandra Barnhill of Aid to Imprisoned Mothers; editor John Anner of Third Force magazine; and Reverend Cottonreader of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. We wish we could have sent more, but it is one of many needed steps in the right direction. With your help we can and will do a lot more. Think about it. Somewhere right now little children are laughing and playing with one another and perhaps even their mothers, and/or fathers (all of whom have unusually full stomachs) because of the kindness and compassion of a woman they have never seen, let alone heard of. I am reminded of the quote at the head of this column — "She is a doer — not a talker" — for there is just no way of knowing where Stephanie's unusual kindness and compassion will turn up next.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He is happy to receive letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G2-51, GD&CC, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233, USA.]