Editing Caryl Chessman (section)

==Early years==
Chessman was born Carol Whittier Chessman ({{small|CAROL}} was, at the time, a popular name for boys of Danish descent; Chessman himself later changed the spelling to {{small|CARYL}})<ref>Howard, C. The True Story of Caryl Chessman. [https://web.archive.org/web/20010330213010/http://www.crimelibrary.com/classics3/chessman/2.htm The Crime Library]. Retrieved February 25, 2015.</ref> in [[St. Joseph, Michigan|St.{{spaces}}Joseph, Michigan]], the only child of Serl Whittier and Hallie Lillian (''née'' Cottle) Chessman, both devout [[Baptists]]. In 1922, the family relocated to [[Glendale, California]]. Chessman's father became despondent after failing at each of a series of jobs, and attempted suicide twice. In 1929, Chessman's mother was paralyzed in a car accident.<ref name="hamm">{{cite book|last=Hamm|first=Theodore|title=Rebel and a Cause: Caryl Chessman and the Politics of the Death Penalty in Postwar California, 1948–1979|year=2001|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-92523-8|page=3}}</ref> As a child, Chessman had [[asthma]], which left him weak, and he also contracted [[encephalitis]], which he later claimed changed his personality. After recovering he began to rebel against his parents' strict Baptist upbringing by committing petty crimes.<ref name="starr">{{cite book|last=Starr|first=Kevin|title=Embattled Dreams: California in War and Peace, 1940–1950|year=2003|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0-195-16897-6|page=223}}</ref> The family was hit hard by the [[Great Depression|Depression]], and Chessman later recalled that he stole food and other items as an adolescent to help his parents.<ref name="hamm"/>

In July 1937, Chessman was caught stealing a car and sent to [[Preston School of Industry]] (also known as Preston Castle), a reform school in Northern California. He was released in April 1938, only to return a month later after stealing another car. In October 1939, Chessman was sent to the Los Angeles County Road Camp after yet another car theft. It was there that he met a group of young criminals known as the "Boy Bandit Gang." After his release from the road camp he joined the gang and, in April 1941, was arrested in connection with a number of gang-related robberies and shootouts with police. As the gang's leader, Chessman was convicted of robbery and sent to [[San Quentin State Prison]], then transferred to the [[California Institution for Men]] in [[Chino, California|Chino]]. He escaped in October 1943 but was arrested a month later. Convicted on another robbery charge, Chessman was sentenced to five years to [[Life imprisonment|life]] and served the minimum, mostly at [[Folsom State Prison]]. He was released in December 1947 and returned to Glendale.<ref name="hamm"/>