They Always Call Us Ladies

Book excerpt: Jean Struven Harris was the perfect headmistress of the posh, exclusive Maderia School for girls in Virginia. Her conservative, well-tailored clothes were suggestive of the impeccable good sense she imparted to her students. But in March of 1980 Jean fell into despair over the end of her 15 year relationship with Dr. Herman Tarnower. She bought a gun, decided to visit Hy and then kill herself. Tragically, the bullets intended for Jean struck Hy. After a 14 week trial Jean Harris was sentenced to 15 years to life in prision. Bad food, cold, dampness, shrieks in the night; Jean Harris's recent life is a far cry from the privilege to which she was accustomed. But amidst the horror and hardship of prision she has recaptured her efficient, motivating energy. She now devotes herself to helping her fellow inmates, including those with children born in prison. More than halfway to her first opportunity for parole, Harris had developed a resilience she didn't know she had. Far away in time and place from the Madeira School, Jean Harris is teaching again, preparing women to face life. They aren't the young ladies from private school, they are convicted felons; but they need her help and she is giving it, while also offering hope in the bleak world she now inhabits. Her students may be prisoners but they are ladies just the same.