Dennis Danziger

Put Down Your Pistol and Pick Up a Pen, The Story of a Teacher, a Tagger, and a 22-Year Prison Sentence is a co-authored memoir that follows the unusual friendship of John Rodriguez, a 17-year old tagger, and Dennis Danziger, his high school English teacher. When the teacher realizes that this tagger is a writing savant, he encourages him to pursue a college education. But that spring, John is involved in a bar fight that turns violent and is sentenced to a 22 years in prison. What follows is a story with echoes of Tuesdays with Morrie, with the teacher sending books and assignments to his once star student who finds redemption through his love of literature and literally writes his way out of prison to freedom.

POPS stands for Pain of the Prison System, and POPS the Club stands for transforming that pain into dignity, belonging, and freedom. POPS the Club creates and sustains a welcoming and loving community in high schools that foster and support teenagers with loved ones in prison. Their stories, poetry and artwork are achingly honest expressions of their experiences: What it is like to live in dangerous and desirous neighborhoods, to love people in prison and those who have been deported or have died, to feel invisible, unseen and unheard and impotent. It is through these stories that club members enhance their transformation, from impotent to important, from invisible to seen, from silent to strong and understood. In the Key of Love is POPS the Club's fifth release (following Runaway Thoughts (2014); Ghetto By the Sea (2015); Before There Were Bars (2016) and Cracked Masks (2017)). These are stories from across the country, from Los Angeles, Belmont, Culver City, El Camino Real Charter, James Monroe, LA High School of the Arts, Lawndale, Santa Monica and Venice High Schools; from Baltimore's Renaissance Academy; and from Harrisburg's Sci Tech and Steelton Highspire High Schools.