Publication is scheduled for October. Here is a link for ordering a copy of the book from University of Texas Press.
Dallas Morning News crime blogger mentions Eroy Brown
Diane Jennings, who writes about crime for the Dallas Morning News, blogged about The Trials of Eroy Brown in June. She was talking to one of the primary sources for the book, attorney Bill Habern, and followed up with a posting.
Reading at Brazos Books scheduled for November in Houston
Michael Berryhill will be reading from and signing copies of his book, The Trials of Eroy Brown, at 2 pm on Sunday, November 6, at Brazos Books. The book store is situated at 2421 Bissonnet Street, Houston, 77005.
In addition, Berryhill will be talking about the book on Saturday, November 5 at the Museum of Printing History in Houston. Details to come.
Eroy Brown ‘has served his time,’ author Michael Berryhill says in interview
Eroy Brown, who three times was acquitted of killing two Texas prison officials, remains incarcerated after being denied parole a few years ago, and continues to be held on convictions for armed robbery and burglary, blogger Constance Robinson writes. She’s written about Eroy Brown’s story and talks with Michael Berryhill, author of the forthcoming book The Trials of Eroy Brown: The Murder Case that Shook the Texas Prison System:
“What was interesting was tying Eroy’s story to the Ruiz civil rights case. Both trials gave voice to people who were convicts, and in both trials the convicts had lawyers who were advocating on their behalf. Bad things were being done by high prison officials and Eroy Brown brought that all out in the public.”
Keep up with all the latest news about The Trials of Eroy Brown by “liking” our page on Facebook. We’ll keep you posted on when and where to buy the book when it comes out later this year from the University of Texas Press.
‘Regal’ magazine spotlights Eroy Brown’s story, forthcoming book
Justin Toliver of Regal spoke with author Michael Berryhill about Eroy Brown’s story in a piece published the other day.
Eroy Brown’s story
In 1981, a black inmate killed two white prison officials at a Texas prison farm.
One of the slain men was the prison’s warden. The other was the supervisor of its farm operations.
The farm boss was shot to death. The warden was drowned in a creek not far away.
The inmate claimed it was self-defense. And 35 of 36 Texas jurors believed him.
The story is told in The Trials of Eroy Brown: The Case that Shook the Texas Prison System, the forthcoming book by Houston journalist Michael Berryhill.
Work songs from Ellis Unit, 1966
Pete and Toshi Seeger‘s 1966 film Afro-American Work Songs in a Texas Prison, which captures the signing of an all-black field work crew at Ellis Unit, is mentioned in The Trials of Eroy Brown. The 29-minute black-and-white film, which is available to view online at this link, was made at Ellis 14 years before Eroy Brown killed Warden Wallace Pack and farm major Billy Max Moore there in 1980.
Brown had done six months’ service on an all-black, segregated field labor squad like this one when he first arrived at Ellis in 1977, including picking cotton and chopping sugar cane, author Michael Berryhill writes.
Where it happened: The Trials of Eroy Brown
Many of the events described in the book The Trials of Eroy Brown took place outside Huntsville, Texas, a small town about an hour’s drive north of Houston that is surrounded by state prison facilities.
At the time of the events described in the book, Eroy Brown was being held at Ellis Unit, a prison farm facility northeast of Huntsville, which has a farm campus that abuts the Trinity River.
Huntsville is a small town and is ringed by state prison facilities. It is also home to Huntsville Unit, often called “The Walls,” a 150-year-old prison at which the state of Texas performs executions.
Author Michael Berryhill named head of journalism program at Texas Southern
Houston-based journalist Michael Berryhill took a new position this fall as head of the journalism department at Texas Southern University.
Where is Eroy Brown now?
After his acquittal in the Ellis Unit prison guard murders, Eroy Brown was freed, but was later convicted of committing an unrelated crime. For his own protection, he is not housed in a Texas prison, and instead is held in a federal facility at Leavenworth, Kansas. Now 59 years old, he is slated to be released in 2017.
