By Gary Dickson
Ten years ago I was living and working in Louisiana. I managed a cluster of newspapers out of Crowley, Louisiana, the rice capital of the south.
Former Congressman and Governor Edwin Edwards was standing trial for bribery and extortion involving state riverboat casino licenses while he was serving as governor. Edwards had also been involved in a major rice scandal involving Korea in the early days of his career in Congress.
The last time Edwards was elected governor was 1991. His opponent was none other than David Duke, the former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. How the choice for the office of governor of a state could come down to those two people is beyond me.
In the New Orleans area the most common bumper sticker during election season was “Vote for the Crook: It”s Important.” Of course, the identity of the crook went without saying. Everyone knew it was Edwards. He won in a landslide. Around New Orleans people were afraid that having David Duke as governor would be bad for tourism.
Louisiana has always been known for its corrupt and colorful politicians and Edwin Edwards is close to the top of the list in both categories.
Edwards was sentenced to eight years in a federal penitentiary for his illegal casino licensing deals. Just last week I ran across a story involving the latest chapter to Edwards” interesting life story.
At just a month short of his 84th birthday, Edwards married a beautiful, 32-year-old woman who began their relationship by becoming Edwards” prison pen pal. When asked how a man his age could attract such a young wife Edwards said, “People who don”t know me don”t know what a wonderful, pleasant, modest fellow I am.” It was classic Edwin Edwards.
Edwards” new bride said that she started writing to him when he first went to prison and then started visiting him on weekends and holidays. Let”s see; that would have been when she was in her early 20s and Edwards would have been older than 75.
I don”t really know what motivated Edwards” new and third wife to seek him out when he was in prison. Money is the first thing that comes to mind.
Individuals seeking to be pen pals with prisoners are not uncommon by any means, though. There are websites devoted to helping people connect with a prisoner of their choice. One website mentioned that everyone from “Christians and judges and prison activists to those who are just curious” look for pen pal friendships with inmates.
During the last few months of her TV show, Oprah Winfrey devoted one episode to the prison pen pal relationship topic. The show focused on a couple here in California who met as pen pals and got married at the prison.
There is one recent case in which a woman from Belgium married a Michigan prisoner. She was accused of marrying him in order to get a green card. Of course, she denied the accusation.
Michelle Sauve, from Ontario, Canada, found the love of her life, Justin Wiley Dickens, on death row in a Texas prison. He had been there since he was 17. After his sentence was commuted to life in prison, they decided to wed.
There is still one obstacle: the prison doesn”t allow conjugal visitations.
I can see the benefits gained by a prisoner who is lucky enough to get an outside pen pal. But, with E-Harmony.com and Match.com, I just don”t understand why anyone would choose to develop a romantic relationship with someone behind bars for committing a crime. The odds of a marriage working these days are pretty long to begin with. What are the odds that a marriage will last between two people who know each other from the censored letters they write back and forth to each other while one of them is serving time for killing someone or for holding up a liquor store?
Gary Dickson is the publisher of the Record-Bee. Call him at 263-5636, ext. 24. E-mail him at gdickson@record-bee.com.
