The World Calls It a Prison Town—And I Call It Home
A 20-Year Resident of Folsom, the Town Johnny Cash Made Famous, Reflects on the Relationship Between the Community and Its Prisons
learned Johnny Cash songs because of my own frequent imprisonment in the backseat of the family station wagon. Dad played all the Man in Black’s hits on the Chevy’s 8-track. “A Boy Named Sue” probably made the most lasting impression on me, but I also learned, among other lessons, that there is no despair quite so dark as being stuck in Folsom Prison.
Otherwise, I never gave much thought to the place until the day my parents announced we were moving from the Bay Area to Folsom.
“The place with the prison?” …
