Mark D. Devlin

ISBN 0-6891-1476-1), a critically acclaimed ^[1][2]

juvenile justice system reformed in Massachusetts

Roslindale juvenile detention center, and the Bridgewater, Massachusetts reformatory known as the Institute for Juvenile Guidance. According to his book, when Mark was seven years of age his mother brought him before an old man who wore black robes. Mark’s mother talked to the old man and then somebody brought him to a large building in Roslindale, Massachusetts, where somebody shoved him into a darkened room and locked the door. Mark started to cry for his mother.^[3] That was the start of Mark’s encounter with the Massachusetts juvenile corrections system. Once while an inmate of the Bridgewater reformatory Mark was able to look across a prison yard and see his father in the adult section.^[4]

Rhodes Scholar," this self-described "Road Scholar" decided to become a writer. While living on the streets, Mark's worldly possessions consisted of a bag filled with clothes, a dictionary, a thesaurus, pencils and a pad of paper. His first publishing success was a letter to the editor of The Real Paper. Mark Zanger, a columnist at the now-defunct, Cambridge, Massachusetts alternative weekly, turned the letter into an article. It was about staying at Boston's Charles Street Jail after it was condemned.^[6]

breakdown, and made several starts on a work of fiction about his father's life and their relationship. He maintained longstanding friendships despite his lifestyle and increasing physical and legal problems.^{[citation needed}