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The sun does shine : how I found life and…
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The sun does shine : how I found life and freedom on death row (original 2018; edition 2018)

by Anthony Ray Hinton, Lara Love Hardin (Author.)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
8844224,057 (4.46)10
Biography & Autobiography. Sociology. African American Nonfiction. Nonfiction. HTML:

Oprah's Book Club Summer 2018 Selection
A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit.
/> "An amazing and heartwarming story, it restores our faith in the inherent goodness of humanity."
â??Archbishop Desmond Tutu

In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only twentyâ??nine years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free.
But with no money and a different system of justice for a poor black man in the South, Hinton was sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent his first three years on Death Row at Holman State Prison in agonizing silenceâ??full of despair and anger toward all those who had sent an innocent man to his death. But as Hinton realized and accepted his fate, he resolved not only to survive, but find a way to live on Death Row. For the next twentyâ??seven years he was a beaconâ??transforming not only his own spirit, but those of his fellow inmates, fiftyâ??four of whom were executed mere feet from his cell. With the help of civil rights attorney and bestselling author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, Hinton won his release in 2015.
With a foreword by Stevenson, The Sun Does Shine is an extraordinary testament to the power of hope sustained through the darkest times. Destined to be a classic memoir of wrongful imprisonment and freedom won, Hinton's memoir tells his dramatic thirtyâ??year journey and shows how you can take away a man's freedom, but you can't take away his imagination, humor, or joy.
This program includes a forward written and read by Bryan Stevenson.
Praise for The Sun Does Shine audiobook:
"The incredible details of Hinton's trial and eventual release are narrated in an honest, easy style by Kevin R. Free...He captures the Southern rhythms of Hinton's speech with a natural cadence that brings us closer to his pain." â?? AudioFile Magazine
"Kevin R. Free performs this work with flashes of anger cast over a deep humility, and captures the sense of humor that Hinton was, incredibly, able to hold on to during his long years in solitary confinement...This is a story that enrages and inspires." â??… (more)

Member:SgtGolden
Title:The sun does shine : how I found life and freedom on death row
Authors:Anthony Ray Hinton
Other authors:Lara Love Hardin (Author.)
Info:London : Rider Books, 2018.
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:None

Work Information

The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row by Anthony Ray Hinton (2018)

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Showing 1-5 of 42 (next | show all)
I recently read Lara Love Hardin’s book The Many Lives of Mama Love, in which she wrote about co-writing The Sun Does Shine with Anthony Ray Hinton, who was falsely convicted of murder and spent 27 years on Death Row before he was exonerated.

When Hinton was 29 years old, he was arrested for murdering two people. Even though he had a rock-solid alibi, he was found guilty and sentenced to Death Row. This was due to an incompetent court-appointed attorney and corrupt law enforcement officers and Attorneys General, who cared more about a conviction than making sure they had the right person. Through it all, Hinton maintained a positive attitude and even helped keep his fellow inmates’ spirits up. Eventually, he was put in touch with Bryan Stevenson, the attorney who founded the Equal Justice Initiative and wrote the book Just Mercy. It was Stevenson who eventually won Hinton’s release.

I learned a lot about the legal system reading this book and what I came away with is most of it is complete BS. The simplest things take years to get done and half of it doesn’t even make sense. The disregard for human life – Black life to be specific – was horrifying. Sentencing a human being you know is innocent to death just to get the case closed? Disgusting. And if you don’t have money, you can forget about getting a fair trial. I know there are some good public defenders out there but I think most of them are just phoning it in to get the case over with. I know Hinton’s sure was. I think I could have done a more thorough job. Now that I’ve read this book, I want to read Just Mercy, which I actually have on my bookshelves. I wonder if Stevenson writes about Hinton’s case – it would be interesting to hear his perspective.

Hinton is an amazing man who deserves the very best in life. Highly recommended. ( )
  mcelhra | Aug 27, 2023 |
A book EVERY human being should read.
I was deeply inspired and touched by Ray's ability to keep fighting despite everything being against him.
I couldn't hold my tears when he lost his mother, can't begin to imagine what it felt like. A mother's love is truly something unique and irreplaceable ( )
  NG_YbL | Jul 12, 2023 |
I read Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy a year ago. Impressive and disturbing. This account of Ray Hinton’s incarceration for more than half his life was even more thought provoking and disturbing. Made me cry, made me angry. Thanks to Ray for writing and to Mr Stevenson who obtained Ray’s release. ( )
  cathy.lemann | Mar 21, 2023 |
Mr. Hinton is a better man than I, and I can honestly say that I feel all the anger he no longer feels at the blatant racism that defines his entire case. ( )
  jmchshannon | Dec 23, 2022 |
For more crime, pulp and horror reviews visit:
Wordpress: https://criminolly.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3516zdH-XqACeusCHCVk8w

It might sound cheesy to say it, but ‘The Sun Does Shine’ really does feel like a life changing book. Written but Anthony Ray Hinton, a black American from Alabama who was falsely convicted of murder and spent over a quarter of a century on death row, it’s an incredibly moving, wise and insightful work.
Ray, as he is known, was arrested for the robbery of a restaurant and the attempted murder of its manager. This crime took place when he was working as a cleaner in a locked warehouse miles from the restaurant. Prosecutors then also tied him to two similar robbery homicides and he was convicted on flimsy forensic evidence. Ray protested his innocence throughout, and was fortunate enough to eventually meet a crusading lawyer, Bryan Stevenson, who took up his case.
It’s clear from the start that race played a huge part in Ray’s conviction, as did economics. It seems unlikely that a wealthier white man, with access to a decent legal defence, would ever have been sent to prison. The amazing thing is the forgiveness that Ray shows to those responsible for robbing him of so many years of his life. His compassion really is inspirational.
This is a wonderful and very moving book. Heartbreakingly honest in its reporting of the conditions death row inmates face and the psychological toll the constant threat of state sanctioned murder takes on innocent and guilty convicts alike. Ray is under no illusion that many of the men he was incarcerated with were responsible for monstrous crimes, but writes passionately about the fact that their crimes don’t mean they aren’t human beings.
Some of the legal detail of his appeal can be difficult to follow at times, but the underlying message is clear. This is a book about the importance of compassionate justice and the need to address the appalling racial and economic inequalities that persist in the US. Ray’s hope and love for his fellow man shine through like a beacon. It’s also, at times, beautifully written, with clear, thoughtful prose that is packed with emotion.
Crime fiction so often focuses on the pursuit of the guilty and tends to ignore the impact of miscarriages of justice on the innocent. Reading an alternative view such as this was fascinating. I can’t recommend it highly enough.


( )
  whatmeworry | Apr 9, 2022 |
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» Add other authors

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Hinton, Anthony Rayprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Hardin, Lara Lovesecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Stevenson, BryanForewordsecondary authorall editionsconfirmed
Free, Kevin R.Narratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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For my mother, Buhlar Hinton. May we all learn to love as unconditionally as she did.
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There's no way to know the exact second your life changes forever.
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Biography & Autobiography. Sociology. African American Nonfiction. Nonfiction. HTML:

Oprah's Book Club Summer 2018 Selection
A powerful, revealing story of hope, love, justice, and the power of reading by a man who spent thirty years on death row for a crime he didn't commit.
"An amazing and heartwarming story, it restores our faith in the inherent goodness of humanity."
â??Archbishop Desmond Tutu

In 1985, Anthony Ray Hinton was arrested and charged with two counts of capital murder in Alabama. Stunned, confused, and only twentyâ??nine years old, Hinton knew that it was a case of mistaken identity and believed that the truth would prove his innocence and ultimately set him free.
But with no money and a different system of justice for a poor black man in the South, Hinton was sentenced to death by electrocution. He spent his first three years on Death Row at Holman State Prison in agonizing silenceâ??full of despair and anger toward all those who had sent an innocent man to his death. But as Hinton realized and accepted his fate, he resolved not only to survive, but find a way to live on Death Row. For the next twentyâ??seven years he was a beaconâ??transforming not only his own spirit, but those of his fellow inmates, fiftyâ??four of whom were executed mere feet from his cell. With the help of civil rights attorney and bestselling author of Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson, Hinton won his release in 2015.
With a foreword by Stevenson, The Sun Does Shine is an extraordinary testament to the power of hope sustained through the darkest times. Destined to be a classic memoir of wrongful imprisonment and freedom won, Hinton's memoir tells his dramatic thirtyâ??year journey and shows how you can take away a man's freedom, but you can't take away his imagination, humor, or joy.
This program includes a forward written and read by Bryan Stevenson.
Praise for The Sun Does Shine audiobook:
"The incredible details of Hinton's trial and eventual release are narrated in an honest, easy style by Kevin R. Free...He captures the Southern rhythms of Hinton's speech with a natural cadence that brings us closer to his pain." â?? AudioFile Magazine
"Kevin R. Free performs this work with flashes of anger cast over a deep humility, and captures the sense of humor that Hinton was, incredibly, able to hold on to during his long years in solitary confinement...This is a story that enrages and inspires." â??

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