The Real Bernie Madoff: Our 7 Years in Prison Together
About this audiobook
The Real Bernie Madoff
Ralph Griffith wrote a book that no one else could have!
Sara Stratso
November 9, 2020
There has been no shortage of books written about Bernie Madoff, but Ralph Griffith’s book stands out above all the rest because the author and Madoff were incarcerated together for seven years.
Bernard Lawrence Madoff, a prominent Wall Street figure, was serving time in North Carolina’s Federal Medical Center in FCI Butner. Madoff, the former chairman of NASDAQ (National Association of Securities Automated Quotations Dealers) had been sentenced for 150 years for an elaborate multi-billion dollars Ponzi scheme targeting investors. Griffith had been doing time because of bank robbery and parole violations. Both had heart conditions and thus were sequestered together in the federal medical facility. Griffith was working in the prison library as the law clerk.
Griffith humorously describes their friendship with; “We spent 7 years living in a 60-man unit. It did not have the square footage of a decent-sized home. As such, we had a lot of idle time on our hands. It does not take a lot of imagination to understand the opportunity that presented itself to me.”
After Griffith writes, “Picture Bernie Madoff sitting in your living room for seven years,” he continues to pen an extremely comprehensive expose of the nefarious dealings of Wall Street. These dealings, according to Madoff, are aided and supported by the federal and state governments in the U.S. and Europe, along with various regulatory agencies. Griffith is fearless in his critique of corporations, politicians, and judges. He is fond of quoting one of Bernie’s favorite sayings, “It’s all a bunch of sh—t!
There is a disclaimer at the beginning of the book on page 2 in which Griffith proclaims, “All information about the subjects of this book are controlled by the government and financial services industry. Anyone who should write and expose these truths will never be employed in private, government, or any universities again…”
This in itself is a hook to catch a reader’s interest. This statement certainly caught my attention! An especially important takeaway from this book is that Griffith points out that these villainous practices still continue today.
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About the author
Ralph Griffith: A Life Lived in Ink
Ralph Griffith is an intriguing American author with a life story that reads like a gripping novel itself. Born in 1951 during the Cold War, his childhood antennae were acutely tuned to the dissonance between reality and government narratives. This skepticism blossomed into a rebellious spirit, finding its zenith during the electrifying Summer of Love. Imagine Ralph’s heart pulsing to the rhythm of the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead, his soul resonating with the counterculture’s whirlwind in the Haight-Ashbury District of San Francisco, where he had escaped to.
Destiny, however, had other plans. A brush with LSD at 16 landed Ralph in the Nevada Youth Authority—a crucible he promptly escaped--his restless spirit yearning for new adventures. This escape coincided with the tragic assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy, events that indelibly marked the canvas of his youth. Ralph became an unwitting witness to history, his life forever intertwined with these pivotal moments.
Fast forward to his thirties, and a different kind of confinement beckoned. Ralph’s foray into bank robbing led to over 30 years navigating the stark realities of incarceration. Yet, even within those prison walls, his spirit refused to be caged. It was there, amidst the clanging of cell doors and the harsh hum of fluorescent lights, that he discovered a new path--writing. His final 14-year stretch became a literary genesis.
Fueled by a desire to reclaim his narrative, Ralph poured his experiences onto the page. Seven years spent alongside Bernie Madoff at FCI Butner became the raw material for a gripping exposé. Titles like “Monkey House” and “The Real Bernie Madoff” offered scathing indictments of financial corruption. But Ralph’s imaginative prowess also shines through in various series, including “The Harry Chin Murder Mysteries,” “The Johnny Walker Detective Novels,” “The Clyde Thomas Novels,” “The Too-Sweet Sagas,” and “The Big Huna Novels.”
Today, Ralph resides in the Pacific Northwest, surrounded by the tranquil beauty of Washington state’s landscapes. Yet, the ink coursing through his veins still carries the vibrancy of those early days in San Francisco. His life’s adventures, as unconventional as they may be, have endowed him with a wealth of stories yet to be told. And Ralph with his relentless spirit and boundless creativity, is just beginning to weave these tales into the rich tapestry of his burgeoning literary legacy.
www.ralphgriffith.net
