I invite you to watch this 6-minute video, and of course, I’d love for you to read my book and encourage others to do the same. We all need to know! 

Hello, and thanks for stopping by! I'm Frank De Palma, and my story is a bit unusual, to say the least -- I spent 43 years behind bars, including 22+ years in solitary confinement. I recently learned that I have the dubious distinction of being the longest living survivor of solitary in Nevada. How I survived it, I will never know. But this much I can say: solitary confinement is torture -- nothing less.

The whys and wherefores of why my life took the course it did is something I’ll never understand. But if all those decades, especially the years in solitary, are to have any meaning, then it would be for me to expose the depravity of life behind bars and in particular, to speak up for the voiceless – 122,000 people -- who are hidden away and suffering inside solitary cells in jails and prisons across the country. This is my purpose.

“…a remarkable story of suffering, but also of resilience… powerful evidence that long-term isolation is torture.”
- Juan E. Mendez, Professor of Human Rights in Residence, Washington College of Law, and former United Nations Special Rapporteur on Torture

When eighteen-year-old Frank De Palma tried to avenge the senseless killing of his beloved dog, he landed in the courtroom of a hang em’ high judge. Though no one had died or even been injured by his action, he was sentenced to ten years in the Nevada State Prison, with a release in two years for good behavior. Determined to do his time and go home, he quickly learned it wasn’t that simple and was thrust into “kill or be killed” situations that ultimately tacked four decades onto his sentence. During this time, he was placed in solitary confinement, where it would be twenty-two years and thirty-six days before he would again see the light of day.

Never to Surrender! 22 Years in Solitary: The Battle for My Soul in a U.S. Prison is an astounding story of justice run amok, of the casual corruption and depravity inside prison walls, but mostly, it is the story of one man’s determination to survive it.