THE REV. RICHARD SHAW

Background: Shaw, 72, a priest of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany, was born in Brooklyn, the second oldest of seven children. His father, Joseph R. Shaw, was a lawyer and lobbyist. The family moved around the state before settling in Albany. His first job was filing fingerprints for the state and he later worked as a gofer for the Times Union at the old Sheridan Avenue plant downtown. He was at the newspaper when the Knickerbocker News staff moved in. Shaw would go onto to become a priest and he earned a doctorate from the state University at Albany School of Criminal Justice. He lives in New Baltimore, continues his prison and jail ministry and celebrates Mass at St. Patrick's churches in Athens and Catskill.

What called you to the priesthood?

I was a student at Siena College. I had considered being a lawyer or a journalist. Over a vacation break during my junior year I decided to read the entire New Testament. The Bible is great literature. The New Testament signals moral responsibility. I returned to school with a desire to enter the priesthood. I went to Christ the King Seminary at St. Bonaventure's. I left, then returned. I graduated and returned to the Albany diocese and worked at the parishes of Immaculate Conception in Haines Falls, Sacred Heart in North Albany, St. Patrick's in Watervliet and Transfiguration in Schaghticoke.

What led you to a ministry behind bars?

It was at the Charles Street Jail — a "five-story stack of birdcages for human beings" — in Boston when I was a Franciscan novice. I returned to the Albany diocese to teach at Catholic Central in Troy when I had my Macedonian Moment of being at a crossroads as St. Paul was.

What was your Macedonian Moment?

It was at the funeral of Judy Clement. A pallbearer at the cemetery was a Rensselaer County correction officer, who said no priest ever comes to the jail. He might as well have reached out and struck me. It was a transforming moment. That's where it began. Bishop Hubbard would assign me to the state prisons in Greene County.

Why is the book dedicated to George Infante?

George was an Albany County sheriff and a State Police deputy superintendent. He died shortly after he retired as a county legislator. He was a man of absolute integrity who lived his faith. He lived what he believed.

— Kenneth C. Crowe II