Long time readers of this here ‘stack (lol it’s been three months) might remember the story I shared in January about Gerjuan Harmon, a formerly incarcerated individual who in December 2023 had sent me a precious work of contraband prison art that he had arduously assembled and by some miracle managed to keep safe from confiscation while playing out the back nine of a 17-year sentence at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo.
I answered Gerjuan’s random act of kindness — made all the more random by the randomness inherent in his discovery of my existence (read the post for the full scoop) — with a handwritten letter of appreciation, unwittingly sparking a correspondence that lasted up to his early release (after 12 years served) in November 2024 and has continued to this day.
For Episode 2 of The 40-Year-Old Podcaster, I chatted with Gerjuan in the wake of the devastating Los Angeles fires about his experience as a wildland fire fighter, an extremely dangerous, poorly paid, and largely thankless role he assumed in the final year of his incarceration with Camp Questa. Gerjuan provided a startling, primary source perspective on the State of California’s controversial and overlooked practice of exploiting prison labor to defend against nature’s infernal fury. I was incredibly grateful for his willingness and patience in sharing.
As we wrapped up our interview, I asked Gerjuan about his current status, having not yet been two months removed from more than a decade of institutionalization. I knew from a previous message that he had been working towards enrolling in the New York Film Academy’s cinematography program in Burbank, and I assumed he was now preparing to start the semester, so I was shocked and dismayed to hear that after bending over backwards to complete and submit his application, arrange for financial aid, and coordinate his matriculation from behind bars (and between active fire fighting deployments!), he had come up short on tuition and was therefore ineligible for enrollment.
I won’t spoil what came next (listen to the episode, silly!) but I’ll tell you this: it was by no means consciously planned; it was simply an instinctive, reflexive reaction to a friend in need — and an organic reciprocation of the unsolicited generosity he had shown me with his initial outreach.
There really is no rational explanation for how Gerjuan and I crossed paths. Growing up on opposite coasts of this physical plane, in diametrically opposed environments, we had less than a 0.00000000000000001% chance of ever even passing each other on the sidewalk, let alone intersecting each other’s lives in such a meaningful and beautiful way.
Our story encourages a fresh foray into the age-old ‘free will vs. determinism’ debate. It turns out Gerjuan had been sending letters and gifts from prison to various people for many years, and not a single person had responded. Was he exerting his free will in his determination to continue reaching out, until he reached me? He could have stopped at any time! Was I exercising my free will in replying to his first letter and continuing to reply to the letters that followed? I could have stopped at any time!
Or was it all destined to work out this way — starting with Gerjuan happening to catch the last two minutes of the HQ Trivia documentary on TV, featuring me in my Quiz Daddy’s vintage shop… no, starting with CNN deciding to produce a documentary about HQ… no wait, it starts with me deciding to open a vintage shop in the first place… but no, it really starts with me landing the HQ hosting gig in the first place… which wouldn’t have happened had I not known the creative director who invited me to audition… who I wouldn’t have known had I not landed an internship with The Onion in 2008, where he was also working at the time… which I wouldn’t have gotten if I hadn’t…
Was it an act of free will to offer my assistance, or simply the determined outcome of having been instilled from birth with the Jewish value of tikkun olam (“repairing the world”)? And how much was I influenced by my new outlook on life imparted by the Hoffman Process and my desire to expand love’s everyday radius? And what about all the myriad and inscrutable steps that led me to finally “taking the plunge” and doing that vital work at Hoffman?
Come to think about it, we might have actually just settled the debate once and for all! What else could it be but SPIRIT, BABY? Infinite Intelligence, Universal Conscious Energy, Omnipotent Unconditional Love; a force powerful enough to transcend prison walls, collapse time and space, permeate the quantum field, find my goofy ass, and refract itself back onto its origin?
Curious to hear your take once you listen to the ep — you’re welcome to leave a comment below or engage in the Rogo’s Modern Life subscriber chat — and stay tuned to this ‘stack for more updates from the reinvented life and exhilarating times of the respectfully self-appointed Black David Lynch, Gerjuan “Gee-Cue” Harmon.
Music used in this episode: “Brooklyn” by Quintus
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