NAMES IN THE NEWS : Michener Pleads With Vandals
James Michener wrote a plea to three young men who pleaded guilty to anti-Semitic vandalism: “Get off that doomed train right now.”
A judge had given the men an unusual sentence: learn about the Nazi Holocaust. Part of the assignment was to read a chapter from the author’s book “Poland” on a concentration camp.
After learning of the sentence, Michener wrote to the men through the judge, John Carey, who said Wednesday he was moved by the author’s interest.
“Fellows, what you’re doing is wrong,” Michener wrote. “You will stain yourselves if you follow that route. Get off that doomed train right now.”
Michael Morano, 18; Michael Venturino, 18, and Neville Anthony Mason, 20, pleaded guilty to defacing a high school a year ago.
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