Arnold Darby is in a great mood the day I arrive in Huntsville, Texas, to talk about his custom bootmaking business...with good reason. After serving 37 years in the Texas penal system, Darby has just learned that he’s being paroled. “This is the shoes I’m gonna wear when I go home,” says Darby, while standing in the Goree Unit’s craft shop, pointing to a pair of handsome alligator dress shoes. “I feel good.” In 1974, Darby was convicted of robbing a drug store. “I’d be


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