Willow in a Storm: A Memoir
James
Peter Taylor and Kathleen Murphy-Taylor
Two
reviews:
Reviewed
by Ashley Merrill
This was an
extremely powerful memoir. If ever there
was a book that successfully exuded raw, human emotion, this is the
book. James Peter Taylor endured years of
torment,
abuse, frustration, depression, unfairness, and punishment. What is amazing is that this man lived
through all of this to tell his story.
James Peter
Taylor grew up in a household that was not all that healthy. His father
abused
him in many forms. He did have a lot of positive, influential family
members,
but they seemed to pass on when he was just a boy.
James got hooked up with some bad people, had
some head injuries, and before he knew it he was in jail. James spends
a little
while in jail for crimes that aren’t too major, then when he gets out,
he
commits his biggest crime; in the midst of trying to rob a bank he
kills
someone. This is the setting for what
becomes his 40+ years in the prison system.
What
shocked me the most, and tugged on my heart strings the hardest was the
fact
that our fellow human beings can treat a man so poorly. Yes, James
Peter Taylor
murdered a man in cold blood. Yes, he deserved some form of punishment.
His
entire stay in the prison system was not simply to pay for his crime of
murdering a man; a big portion of his stay was due to people in a seat
of
power, who held a grudge, lied, falsified documents, and just didn’t
care about
this man’s life. I cannot think of a
time when I have felt so much disgust for my fellow human beings. James Peter Taylor paid for his crimes, but
who is going to pay for the crimes that were committed against him?
Another
issue in this story that totally shocked me was the fact that this poor
man was
raped more times than I can count. He said that in order to stay safe
in prison
he had to act feminine so that a male lover would claim him as his own
and offer
him protection from the other inmates.
How sad that it is a well known fact that things like this go on
in the
prison system, and yet we do nothing about it. If a man or woman is
raped out
in the community, we as human beings balk at the notion of someone
committing
such a horrendous crime and we do all we can to make sure the rapist is
punished; yet when this happens in prison, we turn a blind eye. It is
disgusting.
I think
that this story was meant to shock and awe its readers. I think that it
was
also meant to show the world that there are people out there that maybe
do
things they regret, but that they can come out of their experience a
better,
and changed person. It is a beautiful
and uplifting story to know that this man has found happiness after
having so
much of his life spent behind bars. I
would recommend this story to anyone; especially those who work in the
prison
system, or have a seat of power that have maybe turned a blind eye on
some
injustices that are being done to people. Shame on them. I hope this
book opens
their eyes and makes them realize that it’s time to take action.
Reviewed
by Charity R. Bartley Howard
Willow in a
Storm is the story of James Peter Taylor told in his
words transformed into a compelling story by his wife, Kathleen
Murphy-Taylor.
She writes in the book’s introduction that her husband tells his story,
“as a
possible guide to others who face extreme misfortune and challenge.”
Yet, a
wide variety of readers will find this story interesting and
inspirational. His
goal is to give others a sense of peace and hope for the future.
The
novel is compelling and may be time consuming, but it is greatly
detailed. No
stone is left unturned within these pages. This is an in-depth story
depicting
how a young athletic boy made choices leading him to 40 years in
prison. He
tells about his life of abuse, marriages, criminal acts, false
accusations,
life-threatening prison attacks, search for a stable life, and finding
himself
through God’s love. Mr. Taylor admits in this book that, “I became a
respectable person in my own eyes only after I opened myself to faith
in God.”
This is
a straightforward book giving the details and feeling of James Peter
Taylor’s
life. He doesn’t wallow in self-pitting within his memoir. Instead, he
learns
from the positive, as well as negative, parts of his life, and accepts
them as
his experiences. He explains through words, “I believe in the ultimate
value of
doing the best with whatever we are given whether that seems to be good
or bad.
In my view, every situation we find ourselves in can be regarded for
its
potential good. To worry about things is useless, and negativity is
worthless.”
He strives to live a positive life, “A ‘why me?’ attitude is indicative
of
weakness and lack of faith. I prefer to find strength in the face of
difficulty, to have faith that everything on this earth can be put to
some good
purpose.” He expresses that life has, “taught me the ripple effect of
positive
thinking and good deeds. Not only did the ripples come back to me with
countless
blessings, I know that people I helped were then energized to give to
others in
need, to ‘pass it on’.”
He
remembers when he murdered an innocent man that, “I hardly recognized
the
person I had become on that cold November night in 1955. I never
intended to
kill anyone, certainly not a cordial stranger, yet I had. But, I was
not ready,
until some time later, to take responsibility for my actions. So when I
had the
clear intuition that my arrest was imminent, I planned to not be taken
alive,
and to take out any arresting officers with me.” This book is dedicated
to the
victim and his family. James Peter Taylor offers, “them my most
profound
apology, my decades in penal confinement, my self-reformation – and
this
written work. May it answer some of their questions and soothe any
troubles of
their souls.”
James
Peter Taylor endures health issues including dementia and being legally
blind.
His wife since 1996, Kathy Murphy-Taylor continues to care for him in
her
retirement. This book seems to be a way for Mr. Taylor to deal with the
past.
It was reported after the book was completed he had some relief
including the
end to night terrors that plagued him. Yet, reports also state his
dementia
started then as well.