--- title: Stitching Freedom Is Gary Tyler's Memoir of 41 Years in Angola Prison, Where He Learned the Quilting Now Shown in Museums description: Gary Tyler's memoir Stitching Freedom, written with Ellen Bravo, tells of 41 years in Angola prison and the hospice quilting that made him an artist. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-11-07T19:57:31.637Z updated: 2026-11-07T19:59:17.407Z canonical: https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/stitching-freedom-gary-tyler-angola-prison-memoir image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/gary-tyler-artist-library-street-collective-1.webp categories: Memoir & Biography content_type: Book Review publication: Rich Books schema_type: Article about: - type: Person name: Gary Tyler description: Los Angeles-based fibre artist and author of the memoir Stitching Freedom. Sentenced to death at 17 in Louisiana, he spent 41 years in Angola prison before his release in 2016, and learned quilting through the prison hospice programme. jobTitle: Artist and author sameAs: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Tyler --- ### Book: Stitching Freedom *A True Story of Injustice, Defiance, and Hope in Angola Prison* By Gary Tyler & Ellen Bravo In 1975, 17-year-old Gary Tyler was sent to Angola prison in Louisiana to die for a shooting he did not commit. Written with Ellen Bravo, his memoir follows 41 years inside, the drama club and hospice quilting that kept him whole, and his release in 2016. [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9781668097328) Gary Tyler was 16 when he was arrested in October 1974 for the shooting of Timothy Weber, a 13-year-old white student, outside Destrehan High School in Louisiana. An all-white jury convicted him, and in 1975, aged 17, he was sent to Angola prison to die. He walked out on 29th April 2016, after 41 years. Stitching Freedom, the memoir he wrote with the activist and author Ellen Bravo, is his account of everything in between. The book was published in October 2025 by One Signal Publishers, an imprint of Atria. This month is the right time to pick it up. Tyler's first solo museum exhibition, Gary Tyler: Rebirth, is on at the Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan until 3rd January 2027, and the book tells you where every quilt on those walls began. ## Gary Tyler's Case at Destrehan High School In 1974 Destrehan High School was still being integrated, twenty years after the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education. On 7th October a mob of between 100 and 200 white students and adults attacked a bus carrying Black students home. A shot was fired, and Timothy Weber died in hospital hours later. Tyler, who was on the bus, was charged with his murder. His death sentence was commuted to life without parole in 1977, and the fight over his conviction lasted decades. A federal court later found that the jury's original verdict had been fundamentally unfair. Parole boards twice recommended his release, and governors refused both times. In 2016 the state offered a deal: Tyler pleaded guilty to manslaughter and received the maximum sentence of 21 years, and having already served almost twice that, he was freed the same afternoon. In court that day he apologised to the Weber family for their loss. ## The Angola Prison Drama Club and Hospice Quilts The heart of the book is what Tyler built inside. For three decades he led the Angola prison drama club, whose motto was 'We are the Willing'. The club gave men who arrived unable to read or write the chance to learn. He also volunteered in the prison hospice, which cares for men dying behind the walls. The hospice raised money by auctioning handmade quilts at rodeos, so Tyler learned to sew. When he was finally released, the warden walked him to the gate and, by one account, said goodbye with tears in his eyes. ## Gary Tyler's Quilts Today Tyler now lives in Los Angeles and works as a fibre artist. His quilts include self-portraits from his prison years and bright butterflies, which he uses as a picture of freedom. In 2024 he won the Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize, which came with $25,000 and a solo presentation at the fair, and the Smithsonian has acquired one of his quilts. Rebirth, in Grand Rapids, also shows portrait quilts of people he met who are still in prison. ## Who Will Love Stitching Freedom The first half of the book is hard reading, a long account of a teenager facing a system set against him. The second half belongs to the people who kept him whole, and it ends with some humour about learning modern life after four decades away. Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, writes that what moves her most is not Tyler's innocence but his resilience. The book won a Silver award at the 2026 Nautilus Book Awards. If you were moved by [the memoir a Citgo executive made of five years in Venezuelan custody](https://richbooksmagazine.com/article/toledo-1775-days-captivity-venezuela-memoir), read this next. **Stitching Freedom** by Gary Tyler with Ellen Bravo (One Signal Publishers / Atria, 288 pages, published 7th October 2025) [Waterstones](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/9781668097328) | [Barnes & Noble](https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781668097328) ### Books in This Piece - [The New Jim Crow](https://www.waterstones.com/books/search/term/the+new+jim+crow+michelle+alexander) by Michelle Alexander ## FAQ **Q: When was Gary Tyler released?** Gary Tyler was released from Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola on 29th April 2016, after 41 years in prison. Under an agreement with the state he pleaded guilty to manslaughter that day and was sentenced to 21 years, the maximum for that charge. He had already served almost twice that, so he went home the same afternoon. **Q: Where is Gary Tyler now?** Gary Tyler lives in Los Angeles, where he works as a fibre artist making quilts about hope, resilience and imprisonment. He won the 2024 Frieze Los Angeles Impact Prize, and his first solo museum exhibition, Gary Tyler: Rebirth, runs at the Grand Rapids Art Museum in Michigan until 3rd January 2027. His memoir, Stitching Freedom, written with Ellen Bravo, was published in 2025.