In 2017, Gary Tyler joined Safe Place for Youth's Street Outreach team after spending over 40 years incarcerated at Angola Prison in Louisiana for a crime he did not commit. He was wrongfully imprisoned at age 16.
Longtime friend of Gary and activist Robert (Bob) Zaugh writes, "It was crucial that some of the worst of the worst in prison took note of the presence of a teenager in their midst and set aside their violent ways to mentor him in survival. Do as we say, not as we have done. Gary took it to heart and became the most respected of inmates among the prison population, staff and wardens. He ran the drama club for decades and produced and directed a three hour play on the life of Christ, even though he was not Christian. He was also one of the first volunteers in the hospice program and often the last person to be with an inmate who was passing. This developed in Gary a quality of compassion that you will rarely see in any other person."
The experience of producing the play at Angola was captured in the documentary Cast The First Stone, which we are pleased to be hosting a screening of at Beyond Baroque on Thursday, August 8th.