Never to Surrender!

"Horrendous prison conditions have long been conveniently ignored by U.S. lawmakers. The abusive use of solitary confinement, however, has at least begun to be acknowledged and is sparking efforts at legislative reform. Such campaigns will receive a major boost from Never to Surrender! Mr. De Palma tells a remarkable story of suffering but also of resilience. His book is powerful evidence that long-term isolation is torture-a torture that not only hurts the victim, but also calls into question our belief in ourselves as a moral and just society."

-Juan E. Mendez, Professor of Human Rights in Residence, Washington College of Law, and Former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture (2010-2016)

"The day Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was killed, sanitation workers marching in Memphis carried signs that said, 'I am a man.' Frank De Palma is a man. A man who was treated like an animal, forced to endure the worst form of torture: isolation. Frank De Palma languished in solitary confinement for 22 years and 36 days in a prison not in some far away land, but right here in the United States. Across those 22 years he battled for his brain, for his sanity, for his life, for human connection. His is a story of tragedy but also of the fierceness of the human spirit."

-Angela Hattery, Ph.D., Professor, University of Delaware, and coauthor of Way Down in the Hole: Race, Intimacy, and the Reproduction of Racial Ideologies in Solitary Confinement

"In a 'life or death and no in-between' prison, with constant violence and threats of rape, a man has to fight, be enslaved or die. Frank De Palma's grit permitted him to survive the fights only to be punished with 22 years of solitary confinement. His toughness and integrity earned him the respect of prison gladiators and guards alike, and now, free at last, he provides a thrilling and seamlessly vibrant account of the entire ordeal, including lessons from 'Inside' that offer invaluable wisdom about our human condition."

-Terry A. Kupers, M.D., M.S.P., author of Prison Madness and Solitary: The Inside Story of Supermax Isolation

"Never to Surrender! is a gut-wrenching tale where solitary confinement is used to torture and destroy what is left in a person who is trying to survive prison-and the people who run it."

-Karen Gedney, M.D., author of 30 Years Behind Bars: Trials of a Prison Doctor

"Frank De Palma's new book is a tour de force. Frank's ability to share his story is almost seamless and simply amazing. Like many books from ex-convicts who have been lucky enough to survive prison-let alone solitary confinement-Never to Surrender! 22 Years in Solitary, The Battle for My Soul in a U. S. Prison takes us inside; inside of what those 22 years and 36 days really were like. HELL! Highly recommend; a must-read!"

-Earl Smith, Ph.D., Professor, University of Delaware, and coauthor of Way Down in the Hole: Race, Intimacy, and the Reproduction of Racial Ideologies in Solitary Confinement