88 Men And 2 Women by Clinton T. Duffy, Al Hirshberg

A San Quentin Warden Oversees Ninety Gas Chamber Executions While Fighting to Abolish Capital Punishment

Born on the grounds of San Quentin State Prison, Clinton T. Duffy served as its warden from 1940 to 1952, transforming one of the nation's most notorious maximum-security facilities. During his tenure, Duffy eliminated corporal punishment methods like whippings and sweatboxes, introduced the first prison chapters of Alcoholics Anonymous, established vocational training programs, and founded the inmate-run newspaper San Quentin News. Yet state law mandated that his duties also included supervising every execution carried out inside the prison's lethal gas chamber.

Co-written with journalist Al Hirshberg and published in 1962 by Doubleday, 88 Men and 2 Women documents the ninety executions Duffy presided over—eighty-eight men and two women. Duffy details the final hours, psychological toll, and legal appeals of condemned prisoners, including gang leader Juanita "The Duchess" Spinelli, the first woman executed in California's gas chamber, and convicted killer Louise Peete. Bypassing sensationalism, Duffy records the mechanical procedures of cyanide gas, inconsistencies in sentencing, and his case against capital punishment as a crime deterrent.

Why You’ll Love This Book

Clinton T. Duffy provides firsthand historical accounts of mid-century prison administration, condemned row protocols, and penal reform. This 1962 memoir is a valuable record for readers of American true crime, legal history, and criminal justice studies alongside works by Sister Helen Prejean and Truman Capote.