Posted on 12/11/2005 8:15:22 PM PST by doug from upland
You'd die for a table at the most exclusive diner in all California
LA Notebook by Chris Ayres
THE MOST exclusive restaurant in California is located a few miles north of San Francisco and has been in business since 1852. It is exclusive because patrons can request in advance exactly what they want to eat, thus avoiding the inconvenience of a menu, and because it has served only seven customers — yes, seven — in the past decade. There is, however, one significant downside to the cachet of eating at this establishment: the after-dinner cocktail is served in a syringe, while the patron is strapped tightly to a hospital trolley. Welcome, dear readers, to the Final Meal canteen at San Quentin State Prison.
I have been fascinated by the last meal requests of death-row inmates ever since I discovered the page on the California Department of Corrections’ website that lists each pre-execution menu in course-by-course detail, as though it were part of some bizarre new Martha Stewart cookbook.
It is hard not to study each item in search of clues about the nature of the inmate’s alleged crime, his guilt (or lack of) and his state of mind. Why, for example, did Darrell Rich, the prolific rapist/murderer, order only tea and broth, while his fellow inmate and murderer Stephen Anderson requested two grilled cheese sandwiches, one pint of cottage cheese (plain, no fruit), corn mixture, one slice of peach pie, one pint of chocolate chip ice-cream, and radishes?
To be honest, I’m surprised San Quentin publishes these oddly compelling menus, as reading them tends to humanise the condemned. Many requests, after all, are for comfort food — a reminder that the murderer was once a child; or that the rapist once owned a teddy bear. Take Robert Massie, who managed to escape his first death sentence because of a Supreme Court ruling, then found himself on death row again for the murder of a man during an off-licence robbery.
Massie was a violent idiot, unsympathetic in every way, apart from his choice of last meal, which included two large vanilla milkshakes with “extra crispy” French fries.
In terms of garnering sympathy, the milkshakes were right up there with the request by Tom Thompson, another rapist/murderer, for a hot fudge sundae. Those two images — rapist/murderer, and hot fudge sundae — are so incongruous as to be almost comic.
Yet there comes a point when the scale of the final pig-out can dehumanise the prisoner. Personally, I can barely force down a piece of toast before a job interview. So how come William Bonin (the “Freeway Killer”) managed to tuck away two large pepperoni and sausage pizzas and three pints of coffee ice-cream before his lethal injection?
But if appetite equals guilt, what should we make of Donald Beardslee, the first (and only) death row inmate so far executed by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? All he consumed before his death was a glass of grapefruit juice. Yet he was no less of a killer than Bonin.
I mention all this because of the execution scheduled for a week today of Stanley “Tookie” Williams. Williams, who co-founded the Crips street gang in 1971, is fast becoming another public relations disaster for Arnold, the Governor.
In jail the gang leader has authored children’s books that preach non-violence; gained the support of celebrities and politicians; been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize; and become the subject of a TV movie starring Jamie Foxx.
The Governor has called for a clemency hearing on Thursday, a voluntary move that suggests he is thinking seriously about it.
My own instincts are against the death penalty, for reasons that include the current transformation of Williams into a cult hero, and the terrible psychological burden put upon those who carry out the killings.
Let’s also spare a thought for the poor old death-row cook: preparing a family turkey at Christmas is bad enough; imagine the pressure of grilling someone’s final rib-eye.
But if the death penalty is going to be enforced, there seems no better candidate than Williams. If the founder of the Crips can be granted clemency, then surely no one deserves the needle and the trolley.
My only plea to Mr Schwarzenegger is to keep the details of the final meal private. It is hard to will a man to die when all he wants is a vanilla milkshake.
Try it with shank ham sometime... you'll appreciate the change of pace.
As I read accounts of what these guys order for their last meals, I suspect that some of them are deliberately looking to make the aftermath as nasty as possible for all concerned. It all comes out in the end, you know.
I've heard that most, if not all, last meals go untouched.
I'll keep that in mind- thank you!
I'm pretty sure Tookie turned down a last meal. Any suggestions?
----I say fill his mouth with a blast from a shotgun like he did that daughter in one of his killing sprees.
See post #43. I've heard that as well. I've also heard that the last meal items are passed to other death row inmates.
I don't know if this applies to CA, where the last 72 hours is spent in a special cell very close to the execution chamber.
Any time at all, FRiend.
Thinking it over, though, It would be tough to come up with a "last meal." Maybe a reuban from Carnagie Deli in NYC, or a good steak... Chicken Spedini Garozzo from the same Garozzo's, or their Bistecca Montana (Filet of beef tenderloin stuffed with lobster, char-broiled, served with white wine, lemon, butter, fresh mushrooms and bits of prosciutto ham)... And then there's Stroud's fried chicken or pork chops!
Almost makes me want to run out and kill someone!
Mark
No no no no no no no NO!!!! You just don't understand! TOOKIE IS THE VICTIM!!! You see, the evil one here is society, and the justice system! If not for society, Tookie wouldn't have been forced to kill those people... Or start the gang... In fact, I'll bet that those people he killed were part of society, so they must have deserved getting killed! In fact, I'll bet they made him kill them! Yeah, that's it! It's their fault that Tookie's on death row! If they wouldn't have died, he wouldn't be on death row! It's all THEIR fault!
Mark
I think they should use a pineapple.
Sorry... you can have anything you want, but most states require that it is cooked in the prison.
Or a watermelon.
(Uh oh... somebody is going to make a racial statement out of that.)
My only suggestion is FRY TOOKIE!!!
;-)
I'll be out of town and will rely on your updates.
I seem to recall that Joan of Arc's last meal was the Eucharist. Seems a pretty good choice.
That indeed seems like a good choice.
Any last words, Mr. Williams?
I'd like to thank the members of the Acadamy...>>>
Cold.
Very cold.
I like it.
Tacos served in coffee filters?
I have to get out of Minnesota more often!
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