Trantino’s zest for life and goodwill guides his creative process much in the same way that his defiance and activism led him to survive incarceration. Nearly half a century later, the same rings true. Long out of print, Lock the Lock is a constellation of Trantino’s artistry, but it is also an introduction for how he experienced the world on death row. Among several attempts to get him released, his supporters collected some of his work for a book, published by Knopf in 1974 as Lock the Lock. During those years in Trenton State Prison’s Death House, Trantino was inspired to start painting, and eventually found his way to writing. Incarcerated for nearly 40 years in New Jersey, the New York City native was placed on death row in 1963 before his sentence was commuted to life once the death penalty became illegal in the early 1970s. But he also loves to make people laugh, and his mission is to do as much good as possible. Officially, he writes, draws, and paints. Ask Tommy Trantino to describe himself, and he may simply respond, “endless.” Ask him the same question on another day, and the answer will be different.
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