Welcome to Super Friends.

This is still Whit's blog. It was interrupted by his suicide at USP Terre Haute. If you are visiting here for the first time, I hope you will take the time to read his actual blog, and be witness to what he experienced. The entries begin in the folder named "2008" (see "Archive" at right). Click on the arrow to show "November" and "December," and then on the month to open all entries for that month. Scroll down to the bottom and read up to follow them in chronological order. Repeat for 2009.

I welcome contact and comments. You can write me directly at jeff.transtech@gmail.com. And if you'd like a PDF file of the blog - which is simpler to read than the full online version and which you can keep for reading over again or passing along - just let me know.

And finally, consider ordering the book "Super Friends" from Amazon. I published it, but it's really Whit's and my book. It contains Whit's full blog along with letters he and I wrote to each other interleaved with the blog entries. Also some background chapters and a lot of additional material. I donate all proceeds from sales of the book to Prison Writers, an organization that publishes (online) writing by inmates around the country in both the federal and state systems. They have also been gracious enough to publish a number of Whit's blog pieces.

Jeff Smith
Whit's dad

Blogging Behind Bars

If you're interested in seeing the play based on this, Whit's blog (see below), I had one of the performances video recorded and have DVDs available at no charge. Let me know and I'll send you one.
It's also viewable online at Vimeo. Contact me or leave a comment for the link.

Blogging Behind Bars: Postscript

Saturday night was the final performance of Blogging Behind Bars, the play about Whit's last months at USP Terre Haute. It had been accepted for the 2014 Cincinnati Fringe Festival and the pre-festival buzz turned out to be right on the mark: All five performances were sold out, and it won the Audience Pick of the Fringe with twice the number of votes of any show in the 11 years of Cincinnati Fringe. My gratitude goes out to Jon Kovach of Unity Productions and the entire cast of the play: TJ Ganser (Whit), Patrick Phillips (Brian), Justin Spencer (Mike), Ashley Dunn (Jessie), Rico Reid (Diggity) and Matt Dentino (who played me).

See the Fringe Festival listing and some photos here.

Jeff

The book has been published too

This week the book I created based on Whit's blog was published. In addition to the complete blog in chronological order, it includes letters Whit and I (his dad) wrote to each other and a couple of background chapters. The book is available from Amazon; HERE is the link. I am donating all profits to prison reform and prisoner assistance programs. Das Buch ist auch über Amazon.de, Amazon.fr, Amazon.es etc. erhältlich.