Mary Riley

As told by Missy... " I have a very strenuous job and when I get home I just want to kick back. I was watching Investigative Reports on TV one night in February and they had a story about this woman Mary Riley. She's a Lifer in the Louisiana State Prison for Women. She's 63 now. The film was about how she was petitioning to get a graveyard built on the prison grounds for inmates who died without family. Mary's been in there for 23 years. I was very struck by the fact that here was a person who had nothing who wanted to do something comforting for others. I started to write the song and it just came flowing out. I became more interested in her as a person. I sang the song at the 2001 Song Along in Ottawa and it was chosen to be included on a compilation CD. I really, really wanted her to hear it. I got in touch with the filmmakers in New York and they put me in touch with the prison. I wrote Mary a letter and got a very touching reply back. There was a lot of communication between me and the filmmakers, Mary and the Prison. I sent the CD but they're not allowed among the inmates, so the Pastor keeps it in his office. Then I was invited to the Prison in July and asked to perform a concert. No one had ever sung there before. I was nervous and excited. Before hand, the prison allowed me one hour alone with Mary. Now, I had never been involved this closely with somebody who's taken 2 lives before. She kept trying to tell me that she wasn't a saint, not to think too highly of her, but she defines the word "rehabilitation". One of the things she started to do was paint and the Pastor took me to the chapel to show me Mary's art. She had painted a mural and that's when I first lost it. It was the most beautiful scene of two fawns in a forest glade, with the sun streaming down. She told me that when she painted it 'It was the first time in my life that nobody put any restrictions on me.' I get emotional just thinking about it now. Anyway they led me to this large conference room, where some 80 inmates had gathered. When Mary came in, she had a person supporting her on each side, holding her up. I sang the song. Sorry...I can't tell this without crying, really... The Pastor told me later it was the first time some of the women had cried since being inside. There was no photography allowed so I don't have anything physical to show you. but except for when Matt was born, it was the most powerful emotional experience of my life. I wrote her a letter when I got home and she's written back. We're keeping in touch. Mary has made me feel a sense of responsibility, as a musician. It showed me that music can have a message. It can be a vehicle to make us all stand a little higher."

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(c) 2001 Missy Burgess
top photo by Victor Emerson
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