mb Instructor Erin Torneo’s book Picking Cotton Featured by 60 Minutes and People
Ronald Cotton, Lesley Stahl, Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, and Erin Torneo at the Picking Cotton book party March 9. Photo by Sascha Paladino.
Writing a memoir can be a daunting task. Writing a memoir on a true story involving mistaken eyewitness testimony and wrongful convictions can be even more challenging.
Erin Torneo, co-author of Picking Cotton, shares with us how she helped construct this true story of hope and forgiveness and provides her personal experience on how she has dealt with the recession as a writer and her next step:
Can you explain your recent book project, Picking Cotton. How would you describe the process?
Picking Cotton is the true story of the unlikely friendship forged between a woman and the man she misidentified as her rapist and sent to prison for eleven years. I worked on the book with the two people it is about, Jennifer Thompson Cannino and Ronald Cotton. The case, State of North Carolina v. Ronald Junior Cotton, is frequently taught in law schools as an important example of the dangers of eyewitness testimony. One of main things we hope this book does is educate people about the relationship between mistaken eyewitness testimony and wrongful convictions, and increase awareness of reform measures needed throughout the United States. But beyond that, the human interest element of the case–the incredible ordeals of Jennifer and Ron and their extraordinary reconciliation–made it the kind of story a writer dreams about. You just couldn’t make up anything better.
After the jump: advice for breaking into publishing and life after 60 Minutes.
