I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang!

I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! is a book written by Robert Elliott Burns in 1932 and published by Grosset & Dunlap.

The book recounts Burns' imprisonment on a chain gang in Georgia in the 1920s, his subsequent escape, and the furor that developed. The story was first published in January 1932, serialized in True Detective Mysteries magazine.[1] Later that year, Burns' story was turned into the motion picture I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, starring Paul Muni. The book and movie were both credited with helping to reform deplorable conditions on Deep South chain gangs under Governor Ellis Arnall in 1943.

A sequel, Out of These Chains, was written by Burns' brother, Vincent Godfrey Burns, an Episcopalian priest, in 1942.

The songwriter Jimmie Skinner, reading from his unfinished autobiography, recounts on Volume 6 of the compilation '"Doin' My Time" 1947-1963' that he wrote the country music classic "Doin' My Time" after reading the account of Robert Burns' imprisonment and escape in 'True Detective Mysteries' magazine.

Bibliography
  • Robert Elliott Burns, I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang!, Vanguard Press, 1932; Gale Research, 1972; Beehive Press, 1994; University of Georgia Press, 1997, ISBN 978-0-8203-1943-8

References
  1. "New Georgia Encyclopedia: I Am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang!". The New Georgia Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2012-01-31.
  • Doin' My Time" 1947-1963, Volume 6, Bear Family Records, BCD 16613 FK, Germany, 2003
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