Roger "Mad Dog" Caron (born April 12, 1938 in
Cornwall, OntarioCornwall is a city in Eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, Ontario. Cornwall is Ontario's easternmost city, located on the St...
) is a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
bank robberBank robbery is the crime of stealing from a bank. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime Reporting Program, robbery is, "the taking or attempting to take anything of value from the care, custody, or control of a person or persons by force or threat of force or violence...
and the author of the influential
1978The year 1978 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*The Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year, a humorous award given annually to books with unusual titles is created. The first winner was Proceedings of the Second International Workshop on Nude...
prisonA prison is a place in which people are physically confined and, usually, deprived of a range of personal freedoms. Other terms are penitentiary, correctional facility, and jail , although in the United States "jail" and "prison" refer to different subtypes of correctional facility...
memoirAs a literary genre, a memoir , forms a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable in modern parlance. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir, as listed here...
Go-Boy! Memories of a Life Behind Bars. At the time of publishing, Caron was thirty-nine years old and had spent twenty-three years in prison.
Biography
Roger Caron was born to impoverished parents Donat and Yvonne in Cornwall, Ontario, Canada in 1938. During his first weeks of infancy Caron couldn't keep food down and was constantly gasping for breath, which subsequently led him to being rushed to the local hospital on a few occasions. Though no definitive diagnosis was given for his breathlessness, Caron grew up "very edgy about anything affecting [his] breathing." To this day he cannot swim or hold his head under a
showerBathing is the immersion of the body in a fluid, usually water or an aqueous solution. It may be practiced for hygiene, religious or therapeutic purposes or as a recreational activity....
for too long because of it. Caron was a quiet and secretive child who liked to keep to himself and pass the time by taking apart clocks.
His sister Suzanne was born in 1939 and kid brother Gaston followed in 1944. His father Donat, being twenty years older than Yvonne, had children from a previous marriage, Caron's half brothers and sisters, who by this time were off fighting in
World War IIWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including all great powers, organized into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The family lived in an old run-down converted
barnA barn is an agricultural building used for storage and as a covered workplace. It may sometimes be used to house livestock or to store farming vehicles and equipment...
that would vibrate when a nearby train passed, rattling dishes and moving beds while the family slept. Caron's mother, Yvonne, was compulsively clean and kept the antique furniture in the house shining.
Caron was "spooked" easily as a young child. With their house full of religious articles and the dishes rattling and bed shaking caused by the train, Caron felt
ghostA ghost has been defined as the disembodied spirit or soul of a deceased person, although in popular usage the term refers only to the apparition of such a person...
s were haunting him. Up until the age of eight, he was plagued by horrifying nightmares that would leave him physically ill. He would imagine shadowy apparitions coming through the bars of his bed to choke him or large waves that would crash over him making it impossible to breathe. Later, a
parishA parish is a territorial unit that was usually historically served by a local church. This administrative unit is typically found in Roman Catholic, Anglican Communion, the Eastern Orthodox Church, the Church of Sweden, United Methodist, and Presbyterian churches...
priest was able to help Caron fend off his nightmares. He (Caron) told the priest he had accidentally broke the hand off a large
Saint JosephSaint Joseph is known from the New Testament as the husband of Mary, mother of Jesus...
statue in his house while playing, thinking Saint Joseph's vengful spirit was choking him in the night. The priest had him pray to the life-size Saint Joseph statue at the church where the Father explained to the saint that the boy was only young and didn't know better. He gave Caron a silver
medallionthumb|World Trade Center Commemorative Medallions and certificates of authenticity, 2001A medallion is a piece of metal, usually carved or engraved; circular and large, that is used as a work of art, souvenir, medal, or worn on the body as a special symbol or as a fashion accessory on a necklace ....
to wear around his neck and said Saint Joseph would be his protector from now on. Caron's nightmares disappeared and he continued to wear the medallion through adulthood.
During the final years of World War II, Caron's father found it difficult to feed the family and turned to
bootleggingRum-running is the business of smuggling or transporting of alcoholic beverages or any other illegal drinks;illegally, usually to circumvent taxation or prohibition. The term usually applies to transport of goods over water, over land it is commonly referred to as bootlegging.-History:It wasn't...
as a source for income. In the beginning it was a small scale operation, but it soon grew to a level where Donat would have to rent parking for his customers and find hiding places to stash the surplus
boozeAn alcoholic beverage is a drink that contains ethanol . Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits....
. The family's house was raided numerous times by the local
policeA police service is a public force empowered to enforce the law and provide security through the legitimized use of force.The term is most commonly associated with police services of a state that are authorized to exercise the police power of that state within a defined legal or territorial area of...
until Caron's father struck a deal with a local cop who would warn them when a raid was coming for twenty-five dollars a week. When a tip was phoned in, the family would rush outside and hide all the bottles in the empty field next to their house and the police were left empty-handed. Donat would chuckle at having outwitted the law once again all while young Caron sat by observing everything, wondering what was "right" and what was "wrong."
Around age eleven, Caron began having altercations with his father's drunken "customers." In one instance, a man killed his pet rooster claiming it was an accident. Caron flew into a rage and he had to be physically pulled off the man. His father beat him severely. Beatings from his
alcoholicAlcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism is any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite health problems and negative social consequences...
father and fighting between his parents became more common as the bootlegging business continued to grow. Donat would later give up drinking and bootlegging after realizing the damage that was being done to the family.
Caron cites this time when he began feeling like he was a bad seed. He felt a tremendous drive to do something shocking. People in the community would pass scorn on Caron but, not wanting them to see they were emotionally scarring him, he would laugh it off and run away and do something bad. His older stepbrothers would hold him down while his father mercilessly whipped Caron when he got into trouble. The whippings had little effect on Caron and he would find other ways to punish himself like punching a shed door until his
knuckleThe knuckles are the joints of the fingers and toes, which are brought into prominence when the hand is clenched and a fist is made. The word is derived from the diminutive of a word for bone, found in German Knochen/Knöchlein. Medically, it is said that the knuckles are formed by the...
s bled.
Caron's first brush with the law came at age twelve. He and a gang of youths broke into a
boxcarA boxcar is a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry general freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is probably the most versatile, since it can carry most loads...
with the intention of stealing canned goods. The police arrived and Caron made a daring escape, darting between an arresting officer's legs. One of the other youths gave up Caron's name and a
motorcycleA motorcycle is a single-track, two-wheeled motor vehicle. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as long distance travel, navigating congested urban traffic, cruising, sport and racing, or off-road conditions.Motorcycles are the most affordable form of...
cop arrived at his school and arrested him in front of his class. The class waved goodbye as he rode away, a passenger in the motorcycle's
sidecarA sidecar is a one-wheeled device attached to the side of a motorcycle, producing a three-wheeled vehicle.Early sidecars were intended to be removable devices that could be detached from the motorcycle. The first mention of a sidecar is in a cartoon by George Moore in the January 7, 1903 issue of...
, remarking how he "felt like [John]
DillingerJohn Herbert Dillinger was an American bank robber in the Midwest during the early 1930s. He was considered to be a dangerous criminal who was involved in the deaths of several police officers, robbed at least two dozen banks and four police stations, escaped from jail twice and was idolized by...
". At the court appearance, Caron was let off with
probationProbation is a sentence which may be imposed by a court in lieu of incarceration. A criminal who is "on probation" has been convicted of a crime but has served only part of the sentence in jail, or has not served time at all...
and a stern lecture by the judge.
By age fourteen Caron had become more of a loner and had a hair-trigger temper that would get him into trouble on a regular basis. He would appear quiet and easy going on the surface but would launch into a full blown rage if pushed. At fifteen, Caron had built a lengthy arrest record topped off by stealing the town's cache of
Dominion DayDominion Day is or was a commemoration day of the granting of national status in various Commonwealth countries.-Canada:Dominion Day was the original Anglophone name of the holiday that commemorated the formation of the Dominion of Canada on 1 July 1867...
fireworksA firework is a low explosive pyrotechnic device used primarily for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. The most common use of a firework is as part of a fireworks display. A fireworks event is a display of the effects produced by firework devices...
and three kegs of
gunpowderGunpowder, also called black powder, is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks. The term gunpowder also refers broadly to any...
with two other boys. At age sixteen on September 8, 1954, Caron tripped the alarm at a sporting goods store. The police caught him after he hit his head on a beam in an alley and fell while escaping. On October 17 Caron was driven to the Ontario Reformatory in
GuelphGuelph is a city in Ontario, Canada.Guelph may also refer to:* Guelph , consisting of the City of Guelph, Ontario* Guelph , as the above* University of Guelph, in the same city...
,
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
with other future inmates on a bus dubbed the "Black Maria." His memoir
Go-Boy! documents the next twenty-three years of his life.
Roger Caron's nephew, son of his brother Ray Caron, Jay Caron was shot dead in the back by Cornwall Police. Jay's younger brother Raymond named his son after his brother. A common mistake is that his son was shot, Roger does not have any children due to the fact that he has spent much of his life incarcerated.
Go-Boy!
Go-Boy! details Caron's life growing up in reformatories, prisons, and mental institutions from the age of sixteen through his thirties. Originally sent to the Ontario Reformatory in Guelph as a teenager for breaking and entering, his "career" in prison grew exponentially after constant bad judgements and a personal inner rage that Caron seemed unable to stifle.
As a teen still in Guelph, Caron was fortunate enough to earn a transfer to the medium security reformatory in
BramptonBrampton is the third-largest city in the Greater Toronto Area of Ontario, Canada.Brampton may also refer to:- Canada :* Brampton, a city in Ontario** Brampton GO Station, a station in the GO Transit network located in the city- United Kingdom :...
,
OntarioOntario is a province located in east-central Canada, the largest by population and second largest, after Quebec, in total area. Ontario is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba to the west and Quebec to the east, and 5 U.S...
. His luck didn't last as he had the misfortune of crossing a bigger inmate which culminated in him smashing said inmate in the neck with a hockey stick during a recreation period. Thinking the inmate was deceased (he was actually only
unconsciousThe unconscious mind is a term invented by the 18th century German romantic philosopher Ser Christopher Riegel and later introduced into English by the poet and essayist Samuel Taylor Coleridge...
), Caron hid the body under a boxing ring out of sight of the guards. Knowing he would face serious jail time, possibly
hangingHanging is the lethal suspension of a person by a ligature. It hurts a lot. The Oxford English Dictionary states that hanging in this sense is "specifically to put to death by suspension by the neck", although it formerly also referred to crucifixion and death by impalement in which the body would...
, for murdering someone rather than the original fourteen months he was scheduled to be incarcerated, Caron made the decision to escape as soon as possible.
While they were being marched from the recreation center, Caron and a handful of inmates made a break for the woods at the fringes of the Brampton reformatory amid cries of
"Go-Boy!" from fellow convicts.
Go-Boy is a prison yell used when an inmate (or inmates) break from a work detail or crew in an attempt to escape. Caron successfully eluded the stalking prison guards and fled, not fully aware of how bleak his life would become over the following decades. He was recaptured three days later and sent back to the Ontario Reformatory in Guelph, this time as a member of the general population (gen pop).
Caron successfully broke out of thirteen prisons and jails, more than any other criminal in Canadian history, exploits he covers in vivid detail throughout the book.
Go-Boy! was awarded the
1978 Governor General's AwardEach winner of the 1978 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Alice Munro, Who Do You Think You Are?...
for
non-fictionNonfiction is an account or representation of a subject which is presented as fact. This presentation may be accurate or not; that is, it can give either a true or a false account of the subject in question. However, it is generally assumed that the authors of such accounts believe them to be...
and was widely acknowledged for its insights into prison life.
Corporal punishment
Go-Boy! covered in graphic detail how prisoners were subjected to
corporal punishmentCorporal punishment is the deliberate infliction of pain as retribution for an offence, or for the purpose of disciplining or reforming a wrongdoer, or to change an undesirable attitude or behaviour...
by being whipped with paddles designed to inflict physical scarring and maximum pain. Caron was paddled on two occasions with a quarter-inch thick paddle while strapped into a device he described as
"a mass of metal tubing contoured to embrace a human form and, affixed to it, shackles and restraining straps" (an old photo of the device taken from the front page of the
Toronto TelegramThe Toronto Telegram was a conservative, broadsheet afternoon newspaper published in Toronto, Canada, from 1876 to 1971.-History:...
newspaper on February 14, 1956, and a computer-generated update, can be seen
here). The paddle had tiny holes drilled through it that were designed to rip the flesh off a prisoners hide with each stroke.
Excerpt from
Go-Boy!:
- The eerie ritual began when the dozen witnesses ominously scraped the soles of their shoes on the floor in unison, deliberately done to confuse my sense of direction.
- "ONE!" I clenched my teeth and my body went rigid as the strap sliced through the air, 'CRACK!' Like a pistol shot, it made solid contact with my buttocks, my head snapped backwards, while violently driving my shackled body forward. White searing pain exploded throughout my being and blood gushed from my lips as I struggled to stifle a scream. It was brutal and it was horrible. My whole body vibrated like a band of tempered steel and my mind filled with nightmares as I awaited the next blow.
- "Two!" swish, crack! "Three!" swish, crack! "Four!" swish, crack! "Five!" swish-crack!
- Over and over again I heard the scraping of the shoes, the sharp command, the long seconds, the strap cutting through the air, the explosion and then the crazy-out-of-this-world pain that struck terror into my very soul. Finally it was all over. Ten strokes of the paddle and I didn't scream or beg as so many did. That was very, very important to me.
Caron suffered grotesque scarring on his buttocks and lower back as a result of the paddling. The head guard in charge of Caron's bull gang in Guelph, Sergeant Tracy, was so infuriated by the damage to Caron's body from one whipping that he personally threatened the medical officer in charge of supervising the punishment with physical violence if he ever witnessed another inmate treated in such a manner again.
Bingo!
Seven yearsThe year 1985 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*Isaac Asimov - Robots and Empire*Margaret Atwood - The Handmaid's Tale*Jean M. Auel - The Mammoth Hunters*Iain Banks - Walking on Glass...
after publishing
Go-Boy!, Caron released
Bingo! The Horrifying Eyewitness Account of a Prison Riot about the 1971
Kingston PenitentiaryKingston Penitentiary is a maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario between King Street West and Lake Ontario....
riot. Originally part of
Go-Boy!, Caron pieced together outtakes from the memoir, including a lengthy section about the Kingston riot, to tell the tale as a separate story. The book narrates the most violent
prison riotA prison riot is a type of incident that occurs in the prison environment. It usually refers to a temporary event that is not a routine part of the everyday operation of the prison that involves an act of concerted defiance or disorder by a group of prisoners against the prison administrators,...
in Canadian history at one of the oldest prisons in the country from the perspective of Caron, himself an inmate at Kingston during the riot.
Jojo
Published in
1988The year 1988 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-New books:*R. A. Salvatore - The Crystal Shard - first book of the The Icewind Dale Trilogy*Margaret Atwood - Cat's Eye*J.G. Ballard - Memories of the Space Age...
,
Jojo was Caron's first attempt at writing
fictionFiction is a branch of literature which deals, in part or in whole, with temporally contrafactual events...
. In this novel, a half-breed Indian by the name of Lloyd Stonechild begins his life on a reserve in Western
ManitobaManitoba is a prairie province in Canada and has an area of . Manitoba is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south...
and grows up to be strong, handsome, and ominously quiet. After one bad decision after another leads him to prison in
KansasKansas is a state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa tribe, who inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south wind," although this was...
he undertakes a harrowing and daring escape to Canada. Unlike Caron's first two books,
Jojo was not well-received by critics who panned its lack of character depth.
Where he is today
On April 1, 1992, Caron robbed a
ZellersZellers Inc. is Canada's second-largest chain of mass merchandise department stores, with 282 locations in communities across Canada. Zellers is headquartered in the Toronto suburb of Brampton, Ontario, and is a subsidiary of Hudson's Bay Company ....
department store in
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
. High on
cocaineCocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system and an appetite suppressant...
and visibly shaking from the effects of
Parkinson's diseaseParkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that often impairs the sufferer's motor skills, speech, and other functions....
, he tried to flee on a city bus only to be caught minutes later by police. Caron was denied bail and held until his trial in 1993. While awaiting trial, Caron tried to escape no less than three times. Initially sent to the Royal Ottawa Hospital to undergo a thirty-day competency test, he tried to pry open the wire mesh covering a window and was immediately sent back to the Ottawa Detention Centre.
Later, Caron was sent to the Brockville Psychiatric Hospital for another attempt at a competency test. He again tried to escape through a window but was caught and placed in a padded cell. When orderlies came to administer Caron's Parkinson's medication, he fought with the staff and tried to make another break.
In autumn 1993, after a lengthy trial, Caron was sentenced to nearly eight years for the Zellers robbery. An extra nine months were added to the sentence because of the previous year's escape attempts, and a further nine months were added for an attempted escape at Gatineau Maximum Security Detention Centre in
Hull, QuebecHull is the central and oldest part of the city of Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It is located on the west bank of the Gatineau River and the north shore of the Ottawa River, directly opposite Ottawa...
from over a decade earlier, bringing Caron's total sentence to nine years and three months. On July 15, 1994, while imprisoned at the Joyceville Institution, Caron married Barbara Prince, a legal secretary from Ottawa he had been dating prior to his latest incarceration. He also suffered two heart attacks and underwent open heart surgery on December 2, 1998 to have a triple bypass performed. Caron was paroled on December 10, 1998, partially due to his health, and moved to
Barry's Bay, OntarioBarry's Bay is a community in the township of Madawaska Valley, Ontario, Canada, located two hours west of Ottawa, with a population of approximately 1,300 people. Here the Kashubian embroidery is in use. The town is a centre of culture of Kashubians...
to be closer to his new wife's family. His parole was to last until 2003.
On October 12, 2001, police, acting on an anonymous phone tip, arrested Caron at the Rideau Center in downtown
OttawaOttawa is the capital of Canada and a municipality within the Province of Ontario. Located in the Ottawa Valley in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario, the city lies on the southern banks of the Ottawa River, a major waterway forming the local boundary between the Provinces of Ontario and...
for allegedly carrying a loaded
revolverA revolver is a repeating firearm that has a cylinder containing multiple chambers and at least one barrel for firing. As the user cocks the hammer, the cylinder revolves to align the next chamber and round with the hammer and barrel, which gives this type of firearm its name...
, wig, scarf, several hats, and a change of clothes
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Columnists/Toronto/Mark_Bonokoski/2004/09/29/647591.html http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20011014/ctvnews816520/20011014/. In February 2004, he was sentenced to twenty months in prison for being in possession of a loaded .32-calibre semi-automatic pistol at the Ottawa mall, which was a violation of his parole. While in prison for the parole violation, Caron was charged with fifteen more robberies that occurred in Toronto during the summer of 2001. Fourteen banks and one grocery store were robbed. Witnesses thought the robber was over six feet tall and in his thirties. Caron stands five foot eight inches tall and would have been sixty-three years old in 2001. The number of robberies was reduced from fifteen to five and on March 3, 2005 Caron was found not guilty on all charges.
At sixty-seven years old, Caron was released from Maplehurst Corrections Centre in April 2005 and has been living as a free man in Barry's Bay with his wife, Barbara, ever since. He now lives alone in a retirement home in Plantagenet, Ontario. He suffers from Dementia and Parkinson's.
Adaptations of Go-Boy!
In September 2004, Canadian film company Paradox Pictures secured the rights to
Go-Boy! and began work on a
screenplayA screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. A play for television is known as a teleplay.- Format and style :...
. The following month, Paradox entered a pitch competition at the
Raindance Film FestivalThe Raindance Film Festival is the UK's largest independent film festival. It was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove to extend the normal film school activities of Raindance and to celebrate and support independent filmmaking...
.
Go-Boy! was pitched to a panel of judges that included
Neil JordanNeil Jordan is an Irish filmmaker and novelist. He won an Academy Award for The Crying Game.-Early life:Jordan was born in County Sligo. He was educated at St. Paul's College, Raheny...
and the producer from
Bend It Like BeckhamBend It Like Beckham is a film starring Parminder Nagra and Keira Knightley first released in the United Kingdom. The film was directed by Gurinder Chadha...
, and came in first runner up out of twenty-nine other submissions
http://www.paradoxpictures.ca/news.html.
Awards
- 1978 Governor General's Award
Each winner of the 1978 Governor General's Awards for Literary Merit was selected by a panel of judges administered by the Canada Council for the Arts.-English Language:*Fiction: Alice Munro, Who Do You Think You Are?...
(English non-fiction) for Go-Boy! Memories of a Life Behind Bars
External links