Donald Lowrie

Donald Lowrie (March 26, 1875 – June 5, 1925) was an American newspaper writer and author. He became a well-known advocate of prison reform work upon the release of his book "My Life in Prison", in which he reflects on his ten-year incarceration in San Quentin State Prison north of San Francisco, California.

Biography

Early life

Accounts on Lowrie's life prior to imprisonment are scarce. Recently unearthed information shows that his birth name was Charles Donald Lowrie and he was born on March 26, 1875, probably in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The birth date is corroborated by his World War I Draft Registration Card and the 1900 Federal Census entry that finds him as an inmate in the Middlesex County (Massachusetts) House of Correction and Jail in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Lowrie held various jobs, ranging from bookkeeping and stenography to working as a traveling salesman.

Eventually, Lowrie was out of money and without shelter. After three days, Lowrie had exhausted his resources in looking for work and determined that either suicide or crime was the only way out. Having a nickel in his pocket, he decided to flip a coin. If tails, Lowrie, living in San Francisco at the time, would throw himself into the San Francisco Bay; if heads, Lowrie would commit a crime.