She Grew Up on Alcatraz. Here’s What It Was Really Like
128K views · Mar 21, 2026 · News & Politics
Comments · 312
@mermaidmelucig · 5 months ago (edited)
How many of us never thought of the families of those working on Alcatraz? I thoroughly enjoyed this interview. Thank you!
128
@randybailey2282 · 5 months ago (edited)
My great grandfather was the lighthouse keeper on the island. My grandmother lived there and we have the sewing machine that survived the earthquake. They also lived at Point Sur.
124
@richcolter1161 · 5 months ago
i visited the island backnin 1991 and Jolene Babyak was sitting at a table at the end of the tour selling a book. It was amazing talking to someone that had actually lived there. Thanks Jolene for keeping the Alcatraz memories alive.
29
@georgespencer3973 · 5 months ago
About 35 years ago, I had a day to kill in SF on a freezing, rainy weekday in January. I went to Alcatraz and spent a few hours in the bookstore (gift shop?) reading prisoners’ accounts type books by a window being blasted by rain. The place was dead. It was so peaceful and interesting…and dry! I remember one prisoner described how hard it was to hear people having parties on boats in the summer. That brought up such a vivid image in my mind, and knowing I was possibly not far from where he experienced this decades earlier was kind of spooky. I went back in better weather years later and did the whole tour thing. I’m not into prisons, but for some reason, I love that place. <br>TL;DR It would be a shame if it were taken away.
23
@eileenderheim3768 · 5 months ago
This interview was very enlightening. Enjoyed hearing Jolene's memories of her life on Alcatraz.
54
@PS-n5f · 5 months ago
This was really interesting. Thanks for posting it.
46
@Machino · 6 months ago
"When you don't know yourself, it's difficult to change your behavior." - Great insight!
49
@pattychats · 5 months ago
She was fascinating to listen to! Thanks for this interview.
41
@fraa888grindr6 · 5 months ago (edited)
San Francisco WAS a beautiful city. I've been visiting SF for 40 years, and it's significantly declined in this last decade. My father and stepmother visited SF for two weeks every year for vacation from 1972-1993. He died from brain cancer in 1996. Funny enough, he was born in 1933, the same year Alcatraz became a California state prison. Your guest is WONDERFUL.
4
@bglrj · 6 months ago
What a fantastic interviewer.
42
@florabamabelle6413 · 5 months ago
It used to be a beautiful city
8
@RoyCarter-o5n · 5 months ago
San Francisco WAS a beautiful city. Past tense for sure!
3
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