It's with Dan Ray. I'm deel you easy, Boston.
All right. Welcome back everybody, Thank you Dan Watkins. As we move into our third hour tonight on night Side. Week ago, I guess was a week ago Friday. This gentleman joined me during the eight o'clock hour, Scott Alan Curly, and as I talked to him, I felt that his story needed more time to really understand the triumph of
this guy's life. And I also, you know, we don't take phone calls in the eight o'clock hour because the guests are only with us for you know, seven, eight, nine, ten minutes at most, And so I asked him to come back, and he's joining us again tonight, Scott, welcome back to night Side. It seems like it just only a few days ago we had you here. But tonight we got a little bit more opportunity to let your story breathe a little bit. How are you tonight?
I'm doing great.
I really appreciate you having me tonight.
Well, your story is just one of those those amazing stories of success. So let's start at the beginning. You spent nearly a decade behind bars. How did you get on that? What were your circumstances that led to you making I assume what now in retrospect, you recognize with some poor decisions.
Very poor decisions. Well okay, well, so since we have a little bit more time to chat, I'll give you a little bit more expanded version. Yeah, so that we can you know, it can have more context. I was raised in a very dysfunctional family, and it was all about the exterior. It was all about the image. And so I've spent my entire childhood trying to mold myself into being what I thought others wanted me to be,
as opposed to really embracing who I really was. And I got so good at that that I lost or lost myself in that in that facade per se. And and you know, just the struggle between those two dynamics was pulling at me so hard, and it was something that I kept very secret. You know, I kept it to myself. Even my closest the friends were unaware of
the you know, the turmoil. And as as time went on, and when I got closer to graduating, I felt myself getting more and more intense tense step meaning that I felt like something was about to happen inside of me. But I still still I didn't share that with anyone. And then I started hanging out with quote unquote the wrong crowd, which was pretty much all that I needed, you know. And I say that tongue in cheek, and eventually things just began to implode.
And where about you grow up?
I grew up in a little town called Crosby, Texas, just outside of Houston, northeast of Houston. The first part of my early life was in Baytown, Texas, and from there we moved to Crosby, which is just maybe twenty minutes north of that, and that's where I spent the majority of my childhood.
Okay, again, I don't want to ask questions that are too personal, But was your family situation tough or did you mom and dad you know, were they supportive? Or did you come out of a family, you know, a family stead of circumstances that we might characterize or a psychiatrist might characterize as dysfunctional.
It was the epitome of dysfunction, no question about it.
Well, you go right to the point. That's what I like about you. I'm trying to ask questions as kindly and as as I Then here I'll.
Tell you don't have to. You can. We can be brutally honest. I wrote the book Absolution, The Dark Path to Light to to actually expose all of those secrets. And I did that, you know, for the sake of freeing myself and also helping others to understand that they can do the same as well.
So you look like a pretty young guy to me. So I'm guessing you were born sometime in the eighties.
I was born in nineteen sixty seven. I appreciate that compliment.
Yeah, good for you.
Good for you will get you everywhere.
You're on the right side of fifty. That's good.
Well, thank you.
Yeah. So, so you you know you did you have a big family growing up or was it a small group?
No, it was very small. Actually, I was the only child. I was adopted into the Curly family. And I will not say my parents, my adoptive parents. They were not bad people, yep. I'll say that the problem and the challenge that they faced is that they just did not have the training, understanding our history or experience to know how to raise a child properly. And there's something that I learned that we can only give as much as we have to give. And unfortunately they just didn't have
the parenting skills. They weren't given a lot as when they were when they were with the way that they were raised, and so.
Were they were they young with a young parent, with a young parents got they.
Were average age parents. My mother was twenty nine when I was born and my father would have been thirty four when I was born, but they didn't adopt me until they were until I was two years old.
Really really average, you know, average age. It wasn't like you had a teenage mom or something like that.
Okay, no, not at all.
So was there a point in time when you think things kind of went off the rails? And I'm wondering if you're able to isolate that that moment.
Yes, And and like I said, this is the whole point of us chatting, And as I did in my book, it's brutal honesty because the only way that we can free ourselves and do better is if we put aside the facades. And so during our talk tonight, I'll share some pretty uh you know, I'll be respectful about it, but I will absolutely tell you the truth.
Uh.
Growing up in my family was was was very difficult because my parents were more concerned about the image as opposed to building, uh, you know, growing and nurturing the family itself. It was all about how we appeared to the Joneses. On the outside. We looked like the absolute perfect family. We were an African American family where my father was was very well respected in the in the
neighbor in the community we ended. When I was nine years old, we moved to a neighborhood called Newport that was primarily predominantly a upper middle class white neighborhood, and we were one of only maybe four black families in it. And my father was determined to to kind of be a step above everyone else. The nicer had a little bit nicer car than everyone had. They are of the month very often, you know, we we just I was pretty much their their their trophy child.
I would.
I hate to say, but it's a fact.
Uh.
And so my I was raised believing that I had to earn love and uh and validation. I did not. I was not taught that it was something that I would I had, that I should, that I had a right to just by being a human being.
Per se.
Let me let me ask you, how did you figure all of this out? And I know I'm jumping ahead of the story here, but how did you how did you figure all? And we're gonna when we get back from the break, we'll get into the story of of you know, how the roller coaster started and how you you went down and you and what you ended up with. But you've kind of figured this out, You've you've taken the time to to to figure out what happened. Did you meet people in prison or were there professionals in
prison who helped you work? How did you figure this out?
Yes, that's a very good question. The fact is I was blessed to be sent to prison. I was in and out of jail in prison for between eighty nine and I'm sorry, between eighty eight and ninety one, probably forty times. I was probably in jail thirty to forty times within a three year period. I would come out on a little short break and go right back in for something else.
But the last what we would.
Call what we would call a frequent flyer.
Then I actually got categorized the last time I got sentenced for a non violent offense, which was for auto
theft to thirty five years in prison. Because I was categorized at the age of twenty two, a habitual criminal at twenty two years old, And at that point I got sentenced to thirty five years, which was the worst and best thing that ever happened to me, because I was I was forced to take a real, real look at myself and at that was that was the point where I realized that no matter how well I could taught myself out of things, I wasn't going to be
able to talk myself and we'll wiggle myselself out of this one. I had to deal with it.
And the Texas court system in the in the late eighties early nineties was not a sort of Kumba feel good experience.
So no, I was down there in old school, and yeah, I got sent to some of the I was on some of the toughest units in Texas. They called one of them Ferguson the gladiator, gladiator unit where you had to be able to take care of yourself to survive down there. But like I said, in hindsight, it may sound very bizarre to say that it was the best thing that ever could have happened to me, because to your point and to your question, I had to go
through a program that was called i PTC. It stands for in Prison Therapeutic Community and it.
Was the most intense, most rugged, most involved program I've ever heard of and ever known to be in existence, and a lot of folks couldn't make it through it.
It was seven days a week, twelve hours a day for a full year. And thank God for that program. That program gave me the opportunity to have a life of real life and taught me how to manage my behavior and my feelings. And part of the big, part of a big reason that many of us get in trouble is that we have a hard time managing our feelings.
So my guess is Scott Alan Curley. He's written a book called Absolution, The Dark Path to Light. I know that there are people out there who listen to my show, Scott, who are now behind bars. I get letters from men and women behind bars all the time. In my own career, as I think we mentioned the other night, I had worked on behalf of men who I came to believe were wrongfully imprisoned for a murder they had nothing to
do with. And I have a lawyer by training and also by practice, and so I'm always fascinated when someone like you can literally scrape the bottom of the barrel and somehow, somehow get up and get back and restore your independence, your identity, and your integrity, because it's a tough place to get out of once you get in.
I remember, as an eighteen nineteen year old young kid playing baseball, we went in to play a prison team and the guy that pitched against us that day had been signed by the old Washington Senators, and so I went out of my way to meet him after the game. His name was Lefty Gilday, and I said to him, I said, you know, I was a nineteen year old kid, and I said, you know you can get out. I left he you know, you were not a major league player, but you were a bonus baby. He made some money,
and you're an athlete and you're a good pitcher. And he probably was thirty five years old at the time. And I'm nineteen year old, kid, you can get I'll become a coach or something. And he looked at me and he said, kid, when I get out, I'm going to get drunk and rob the bank. And guess what. I was at Basic Training in Fort Dixon, New Jersey, in nineteen seventy and he was out. He robbed a bank and he shot a police officer during that bank
robbery and killed an officer named Schroeder, Walter Schroeder. He spent the rest of his life in prison. And when I was working, believe it or not, to show you how people function when I was working. Now, this is probably at least I'm trying to time it here, at least twenty five years later, I walked into the prison to interview one of the men I was helping to who I believed in. I was trying to get him
out of prison and left. He was sitting over the corner and he didn't look hardly anything like I remembered him. You know. He was saying a left handed picture. His weight had blown up, and he looked at me and he said, I struck you out twice. And I said, no, left, to your lion, you never struck me out. It's just amazing how the people who find themselves in that situation. You know, It's like I wanted to be kind to him, but it was like, no, left, you didn't strike me out.
You couldn't. You couldn't break a pane of glass. I mean, you're a good picture. Don't get me wrong anyway. I'm fascinated by people who find themselves in prison. The man who I work for to get out of prison, he said to me at one point, he said, how do you feel, knowing that you had nothing to do with this crime, that you're truly an innocent person. You're not like some of the folks in prison who always want to say they're innocent, but they're really not. And he
said to me, he said, I know the circumstance. I mean, I have to do the time. I can't let the time do me.
That was his. That's right, that's right.
And I'll bet you can identify with that phrase. Let's take a break, Scott. I'm going to invite people to call. I don't know if they want to call or they want to listen to us, but I hope some want to call. Uh. And first of all, congratulate you on the amazing experience that you have somehow endured and overcome six seven four ten thirty six one seven nine three
one ten thirty. I also have told you, Scott, I have lots of people listening in different places around the country, and whenever I say that, all the calls come in from from New England area. If you're if you're inspired by this story. This is a gentleman who has gone through a lot, and I hope you buy his book. I do. I hope to get it myself, Absolution The Dark Path to Light. Where do you hear the rest of the story. He is now a self made millionaire,
a successful businessman. So this is a guy who not just got out of prison and is like living life day to day. He has taken life in overcome obstacles that you and I never would have ever experienced. Back on Nightside with Scott Alan Curley the book Absolution The Dark Path to Light. Right after this.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World Nightside Studios on WBZ News Radio.
My guess is Scott Alan Curley. Scott he is one one final comment on my time playing. We played inside of what was called Walpole State Prison, which was the toughest prison in Massachusetts, and earlier that summer they had had a riot inside the prison. So we were supposed to play in July, then we ended up playing in September. So at one time I bet bat against Lefty. He plunked me on my left elbow, Okay, hit my pitch. You know, it didn't hurt because he didn't throw that hard.
So I got down at first base. I'm like, again, nineteen year old kid. So the first baseman I kind of to complain to him. I said, man, you know, so I was kind of play a tough kid, right, which, of course there is a big mistake. So I said to the first first basement, big big guy, I said, hey, man, where'd you get this guy?
You know?
I said, he is he can't throw hardening, yeah, and he has no control. The guy turned to me and he says, hey, look, punk. He said, if you spend the last six week in solitary confinement, your control wouldn't be any good either. It was true anyway. So you talk about this program, I'm wondering if there's anybody within that program, because I'm a big believer in that all of us have mentors in life and that at some point along the line people come along who can change
our lives. Was it just the program or was there someone in the program that helped you open your eyes?
Well, the program was the people. That's one thing, and there's one thing that stuck with me and will stick with me for the rest of my life. That when I really understood this and internalized this fact, it gave me a completely different perspective on life. And I'll share it with you and the listeners.
Now.
They taught us that we all make mistakes, but none of us is a mistake, and and so often in life and I and I've done it. I did it my entire childhood. I equated myself with my mistakes. And when we do that, so oftentimes oftentimes we feel less than and unworthy and and like we have no value, and we don't feel like we're deserving of good, wonderful blessings and good things, and we tend to act accordingly.
And so when I when I was taught that, yes, we make mistakes, we sometimes make really big mistakes, but it doesn't mean that we are a mistake. Then when I, when I really grasped that concept, that was the beginning of my transition, my mindset shift into a totally different direction.
That is distinction with a very clear difference. Oftentimes we used to praise distinction without a difference. Boy, if you were able to absorb that that thought, how did you deal with the long nights in prison? I mean, I would think that the worst part of the day is when you're in your cell lochdown for the night and you're alone with your thoughts.
That's when we start. That's when I really did the most of my reflecting, and I realized the value of time, and I made it a point to not waste my time even though I was in prison. So what I really tried to do, and I feel that it really helped me, was I tried to educate myself as much as I could while I was in prison. Ten years is a long time. I didn't do it all in one stretch. I did it over four different times, but
it was still ten years and ten years. But during that time, I read over a thousand books, I went through college programs. I did everything I could to be in it, but not of it, if that makes sense. I made it a point to not get involved in any gangs. I didn't. There's so much temptation down there to get caught up in that penitentiary mentality, in that penitutuy lifestyle, and the way I carried myself was not the coolest. I didn't talk the slip, slick hip and
cool slang that is known within the system. I just made a conscious decision to use that time to prepare myself for when I got out, because I did believe that I would get out one day.
So how tough was it to be in that milieu, in that set of circumstances where a lot of people will say, hey, in order to get along, you got to go along because you're not living, you're living in a different society. How tough was it to have not only the backbone, but the courage to deal with that system? Because I'm sure that there were people who either wanted to recruit you to a gang, and when you resisted, they probably wanted to teach you a lesson of why
you should be a member of the gang. Am I right or wrong on that?
You're right?
And I'm going to give away a part of my book.
It is.
It's funny and it's embarrassing, but i will share this. So one thing that you cannot do in prison and if you want to survive, is to not stand up for yourself. And I'll be the first hit it. When I was down there in my early twenties, I'm a light skinned guy, I had real curly hair. They considered me a quote unquote pretty boy, which I had all that works against you in prison. It works well with the girls when I was you know, out, but it didn't work so well in prison.
Right so, but a roommate is what you're telling me.
Right yeah, so so. And I had a fear of losing my teeth. There are a lot of people in prison who have missing teeth, and they don't have the dentists. They don't replace them, they don't give you false teeth. And I was absolutely determined to not put myself in a position where I got my teeth knocked out or something like that. So here's the funny story. I'll give it to these throuper quick, Thank god, Lester Curly. My
father was tough as nails. He was like he carried himself, sort of like Malcolm X. And when when I was younger, he taught me to box. He taught me to box the right way, and he would be very hard on me, and to the point where it was probably these days it might even be a borderline illegal. But I did understand the fundamentals of how to use my hands. So there was a time, and I'll give you a very
short funny story, but it's what kept me going. It kept me out of trouble per se, as far as having to do a lot of fighting the whole time I was in prison. So I was in on the unit. I just hit this really tough unit called Ferguson, and I had on some Jordan's and that's sort of like a status symbol when you were in prison back then, the only thing you have are your shoes, and if the nicer your shoes are, the more status you have
amongst the other prisoners. Well, well, this guy approached me, and I'll be the first to admit now, as I felt then, I was scared to death. I will not lie and say that I wasn't scared. I was absolutely terrified to be in prison, especially on that unit, and I was very afraid of getting hurt. So but I did remember what my father taught me. And this guy was approaching me, and my dad always said, if it's going to go down, it's got to go down on
your terms. So the guy approached me and was in the process I could tell of aggressively coming at me because he was interested in my tennis shoes. Because he mentioned it, I heard him, overheard him, and when he approached me, I just by instinct hit him as hard as I could with my left hand. And this is nothing to boast about. It's just a funny story in hindsight. And the guy was about two sixty. I was about one ninety. But I hit him just in the right spot,
knocked him out. And now said that to say, I was scared to death because, oh my god, I was praying to God that he would wake up and please don't die or don't being hurt, because now I'm gonna get even more time. I'll never get out of prison. Right, Thank god, he got up, Everything was okay, shook it off. But that got me a nickname. And oh my god, before I tell you the nickname, I'm gonna tell you. In prison, everybody has the cool nicknames, hipping, slim, jazzy, red, Colorado, black, smooth,
all that stuff. Well, guess what they called me. They called me. They called me froggy. They called me froggy because they said I jumped like a frog and.
They said, yeah.
I'm like, I'm like, oh my god, can I have a better nickname than froggy? And but it was it was actually a show of respect because they were like, don't mess with that dude. He's froggy, he'll jump.
Yeah, well, yes, you you you you were you did You didn't want to punch the guy. You didn't sucker punch the guy, because the sucker punch is when the guys doesn't see it coming, he's sward coming. But but you knew, you knew you better to strike first.
I had to.
And yeah, that was the one and only physical altercation I ever got into in the entire time I was in prison. And although I had the stupidest nickname and I could never say kid it was, there was a bit of respect that went with it. And that was the only issue I ever had in prison with.
Word got around. Word got around. He wanted your kicks, and uh.
You don't mess with a scared man. They're the most anxious.
All right, Uh, we got to take a quick news break here. My guest is Scott Alan Curley. I want to talk about your time out and what you said, what you have done. We now know what you overcame, but I want to talk about your triumphs. And again I would love folks, particularly folks who have spent time in a set of circumstances, and I have many listeners
in that situation feel free to join the conversation. I think that it's very important to make people understand that if you do make a mistake, and you pay your debt to society and you come out and you can get past that mistake, as the guest has, there's a there's a tremendous amount of respect that should be rendered by those of us who have never known what it was like to be incarcerated. My name is Dan Ray.
This is night Side six one seven, two, five, four ten thirty six one seven, nine three one ten thirty. My guest is Scott Alan Curley, his book Absolution, The Dark Path to Life. He is forty seven years old. If I'm doing my math correctly, Uh. He has spent ten years of his life inside of tough prisons. He got off that roller coaster. He has overcome drugs, prison, sobriety, determination, relapse, homelessness, and ultimately absolution. Uh. And he is now a millionaire
and an entrepreneur, a successful businessman, an incredible story. Back on night.
Side, night Side with Dan Ray on WBZ, Boston's news radio.
I guess is Scott Alan Curley his book Absolution, The Dark Path to Light. Scott, what year did you get out of prison. Finally you hit you hit the joints at sometime in the late eighties. When was When was the day you walked out for the last time.
Last time I walked out was in two thousand and one. I was back on a parle violation. And I do have to clarify, as much as I would like to own the age forty seven, I'm actually fifty seven. I was born in nineteen sixty seven.
Okay, you know my math. My math has failed me there, Okay, okay, that's okay, okay, Well that's good instead of having a you know, twenty five percent. Okay, no, thank you for that, for that correction, no problem. Let's I want to work phone calls in here, but I also want to complete the story. Let me let me grab a couple of calls and we'll complete the story here. I got Jeff in Brockton. Jeff, you're first. I'm going to get you on here real quickly. With Scott Allen.
How are you man? I got I got to see. Congratulations. I am still on the path. I I got out of prison seven years ago, and this is the first time in my life I've haven't made an effort to stay out.
I'm allow wonderful work.
I work two jobs full time. You know, I'm like I said, I'm still on the path. I've dealt with homelessness, you know, substance abuse, hurole violations. You know. I'm tempted to do something stupid every every day, and if it's you know, I just keep my head down, keep pushing forward with work work. Why you know, I know what you will. You have overcome so up, what much respect. I haven't read your book yet. I'm just looking at
the Dan ray Am. I right home like I do every night, and I'm definitely gonna be picking up your book.
Man. Congratulations, Thank you sir. Let me share just a real quick tidbit with you, because I love and appreciate that you called in and love your brother. I would recommend, whenever you think about doing something that's not the best, that may not be the best decision, because I think about it every day all day as well, just apply what I call the ten second rules before you do anything. Just pause, breathe, and just take ten seconds ten seconds
before you make any sort of decision. And there's a very good chance that if you just wait ten seconds before you make that decision that your emotions are telling you that you should make you more than likely will not make that poor decision just takes ten seconds.
I'm gonna do just that.
Hey, Jeff, thank you for being a loyal nightside listener. Congratulations to you. If you're in the midst of a fight or you're gonna going to overcome it. And if I can ever.
Be for anybody with a criminal record, I'm sorry, I could not hear that. I said. The discrimination is real out here for anybody with a criminal record.
It is.
That just means we have to fight a little harder. That's all I got.
Lucky. A guy gave me a chance and I and I'm making the best of it.
You know, man, you're proud.
Thank you. Congratulations, stay out right.
Back at you. Congratulations, appreciate it.
Thanks.
That's that's a guy who's listening every night. Let me go to Marty and Florida and Saint Augustine, Florida. Marty, you're on with my guest Scott Alan, Curly Scott. I will tell you this is a former police officer, former New York City police officer.
But I suspect ahead.
I went on in nineteen seventy I got promoted to sergeant in nineteen eighty five. I retired in nineteen ninety. Let me just tell you something. First of all, like a a friend of mine in Long Island who was mentoring a felon, and it's certainly he had an argument with his girlfriend and he's tried to choke her. And they made a new law in New York called criminal strangulation, which is a felony. So this guy became a felon,
and he's the nicest guy in the world. And when I go to New York to visit him, I say his name is Michael. I said, Mike, you're a felon, but you're not a crook. Okay, that's number one. Number two Martha Stewart is a felon, and I couldn't afford to live next to her for a pispic. I what you call it insider trading? Okay, number three. A few
years ago in Florida, they had Proposition four. Well, they want to give felons, except if you're a sexual violator or murderer, they want to give you back the right to vote. I voted yes. The Republican Party said vote no. And now felon's can just walk in and vote as long as they are paid up all all their dues whatever. Okay,
and I do agree. One thing I don't like is, and this has nothing to do with the felons, but when you come out of prison or whatever your felon, it's like you might as well be dead because it's supposedly hard to get a job. And that I think that there are a lot of people out there, Goodie good He's who I hate. I love felons and I love homeless people. My next door neighbor was a skinhead
in California. He did eight years in prison, shot up a bar, and now he's working in the local his His only problem is he's a drinker, but he's working in the local hospital. He's very proud of his job, and his family has a key to my house. So I tell people, felon doesn't mean a crook, right, And we were appreciated When I was in New York during the before I retired, a life sentence in New York
was usually about eight years, and that's ridiculous. But I've met people in screed who said, well, I serve time for manslaughter. I killed an FBI agent. I don't like when people braggs. But I totally support your guests, and I want to thank him and everybody out there. I'm going to tell you right now I would hire a fellon in a minute, but I don't like to hire drunks. So he knows somebody that's a fella, and give the guy a break because he's trying to make something that.
It all right, mighty, Thank you man. We'll talk soon, Okay, thanks Welby show.
Thank you, Rody.
You can tell from Marty he's in New York and he's got that classic New York accent. Let me go to Sherry out Sherry in Houston, Texas. Erry, I suspect that you may be a friend of our guest if you're a regular listener to Night Side. Welcome either way, go right ahead, Sherry.
This is my first time. Hi Scott, it's your classmate, Sherry Morgan. And oh and I wanted to call in. I know me and some of our other classmates are listening, but I wanted to call in and personally, I just want to tell you Scott. You know, we went to school together. We we we've.
Been through a lot.
Uh, we've probably seen each other at our words our best. We've all gone through things and since graduating from high school, all of us, we've all gone in different directions. And the truth is, we all have a story.
Uh.
I have your book, and the truth is I've read just a couple of pages. I haven't read all of it, and and.
I'm going to.
But I just want to let you know that, in spite of all that you've been through, Uh, I'm proud of you because it's like you say, you know, turn lemons into lemonade. Uh, that's what you've done. I looked at you at the at at our last class of union, and I thought, I mean, I just the things that you've accomplished. You didn't let the things get the best of you, and even when you were down, but look where you are now. Uh. And I'm just thankful to
God that that you are doing great things. And I pray that you continue to do great things and uh, just reaching out telling your story, helping other people. But you know, as your classmate, I know, I'm I'm proud of you so much.
Thank you so much, Scherry, and I love you, and I'm proud to be proud to call you my friend. I have to say something real quick about. Sherry said, I'm gonna go ahead and put her out there since she called Cherry was my friend in school that she didn't know it, but she lit up my day almost every day. Because Sherry, I could do almost anything and make it she. I could make her laugh and see that she had the most infectious natural laugh. And even when I was down, I would just do something stupid
and Cherry would just giggle and laugh. And I get her in trouble, and she and I get in trouble. But it was worth it because it was so much joy to us.
Yes, it was.
Yes, So I have so much love for Sarry. Thank you, thank you for that, Sherry.
Thanks, thank you for ca And you said first time calling. We always get first time callers a round of the calls here on night side. So I don't know if you've ever listened before. I suspect that probably you knew. You knew Scott was going to be on, but I hope.
I did Facebook post and I said, you know, another classmate, I said, look, I was going to call in socheck check.
In every once in a while. We did a lot of interesting shows up here, and uh, we have a lot of listeners in Texas believe it or not to listen to us regularly.
Thanks, thank you, Okay, thank you, Scott.
Bye, this is great.
Look, Scott, I got to take one final quick break. I do want to talk about your success. And we got a bunch of calls as well, and we'll try to get them in as well, but we'll get it all none by eleven. I promise. That's what we do here every night. All right, my guest to Scott Allen Curly the book Absolution, The Dark Path to Life. This is one I think you want to get, folks. Okay, we I believe in this gentleman, and I hope you can hear in his voice the ring of truth and integrity.
And he has been there and got back and not many people do that, but he he set an example. We'll be back on Nightside. We got a couple of lines open six one, seven, nine, six, seven, ten thirty. Coming right back on Nightside.
Now back to Dan Ray live from the Window World Night Saint Studios. I'm WBZ News Radio.
Unfortunately, this hour's moving too quickly. Scott Alan Curley is my guest. Scott spent time. He's fifty seven, young man as far as I'm Concerned, spent ten years over a period at various periods of time in prison, and is now a self made millionaire of his book Absolution The Dark Path to Light. What did you do once you get out in two thousand and one for the final time? What what? What career path have you followed? Which one
allowed you to succeed and also allowed you to accumulate wealth? Well?
I started, I started doing what I'd been doing all along, but I just started doing it legally. I started I was working, started working in sales. So when I was in, when I was out in the streets hustling and doing all the bad things. Uh, the way that I got what I wanted was by talking myself into getting people
to give me what I wanted. And some people could call it being a con artist or or whatever, but I did have thanks to Annie Curley, my mother, she required She forced me to speak good, proper English and and to be a strong communicator. And so when I got out, I just started I had that natural skill set and I just started using it in the professional world. And I realized pretty quickly that I had a knack for sales. And so that's that was my first Uh, professional type position.
So what type of sales were you involved in.
I had the worst, the worst sales job. I was working for a company that that UH sold. It was retention sales. Back in the day, this was in the early two thousands, they used to have these credit card enhancement programs where UH these credit card companies, and I
feel like it was a scam. In fact, I'm pretty sure that it was where they would they would have h on they would have you sign up for these quote unquote programs for dental benefits and dining benefits and all that, and and you and people would be paying for it not know it, and then after three or four months they would notice it on their bill and then they would charge. They would call the cut that number on the back of the card and cuss out
whoever they get on the phone. And my job was to take take that take that call and somehow convinced them to keep the program.
Okay, so I'm a millionaire doing that. How'd you how'd you how'd you accumulate wealth?
Well? Well that was my that was how I cut my teeth. And you know how I realized that I that I had a knack for sales. But then I got into the tax resolution in sales, and and uh, you know, we don't have enough time to really get into how it all happened. But okay, but but the short of it is that the conversation and having the ability to effectively communicate will open all sorts of doors for you and I.
That's what is as simple as that.
I just talk and and and it it opens so many doors. And and uh, I want to I know we don't have much time, but to to your point when you ask, how did I get to where I'm where I am and where I hope to continue to go because I feel like I still have a lot more work to do. People tend to misunderstand and and misconstrue the difference between barriers and obstacles. A barrier is something that you cannot get through. You can't penetrate it, you can't get over it, you can't get under it,
you can't get around it. An obstacle, on the other hand, is something that you can get around and you can get over and you can get through it. The problem that many of us are let me rephrase that, the challenge that many of us spaces that we confuse barriers with obstacles. In many cases, some of us, we're all guilty of it, will encounter a difficult situation and we will perceive it as being a barrier, and in many cases we'll stop trying to push forward. But in most
cases that perceived barrier is actually just an obstacle. The world in general is filled with obstacles. There's one obstacle after another, but it doesn't really have a whole lot of barriers.
Though.
There are a lot of perceived barriers, But those perceived barriers are actually not barriers, They're just obstacles.
That is a great philosophy. I got a couple more calls I want to get in. One is from Houston. We're going to take first, LeAnn, who's calling from Massachusetts, Attleborough, Massachusetts. Leanne, I know you've been waiting a little bit, but I'll ask you to be quick so we can get one more person in from Houston. Go ahead, Leanne.
Hello, good to talk to you Dan and Scott. First, Scott, thank you for being the inspiration that you are both to the incarceration those on the outside, because success stories such of you as yours are few and far between. As you know, I have a question about the title
of your book, Absolution the Dark Path to Light. Since absolution means forgiveness of sins, I'm curious as to whether you attribute any of your success and soundness of mind to a faith based experience or a relationship with God or anything like that.
All right, go ahead, Scott, all the above.
There's no way that I could ever be where I am now if I weren't a able to forgive myself and be able to forgive the people that hurt me. And so that is the short, short answer to that question. Carry around carrying that burden of non forgiveness is very
very heavy. It's very heavy and a weigh down. And so when I was able to forgive myself first of all, and then forgive others who harmed me, and I pray that they forgive and ask for forgiveness that they forget you know me as well, then that paved the way for me to be able to do all sorts of wonderful things.
Leanne, great question. I want to get one more in. Thanks Lee, And that's an excellent question. And I should have I should have thought of that one myself.
Thank you, all right, thank you, good night.
Let me go back to Houston. Keith is in Houston, Keith, you were on with Scott Allen Curley go right ahead on WBZ and Boston Keith, go right ahead.
Hey Dan, you're from one of my favorite cities on Protectas I grew up with Scott, I just wanted to pass along something real quick. We're longtime friends, Yes, we're are. His story, his story is real. And I remember going to his house and hanging out with his parents, Lester and Annie Curly. And what was interesting was, now that I think back on it, how accommodating and loving they were to the friends and me, and they welcomed us, wanted us to hang out. She would ask me if
she could cook me anything. And it was a long long time before I realizing. Me and Scott talked and he confided in me different things that it had happened in his life that I didn't even know back back at that time. So my point is is that you never know what people are going through. It's easy to make a judgment about a family or people and friends or whoever it may be, but you really don't know
a lot of times. And Scott's story, you know, it took control of me and him we're in our fifties to finally reveal and tell me about a lot of this. So it's just an interesting part of life and it's taught me life lessons up until this day. Yes, Scott's story is part of that. And even even though I knew his family well I thought I did. We hung out together and did a lot of things together and had a lot of life experiences together. But you never know really what people are going through.
Absolutely, Keith, Keith, I'm flat out of time, so I got to let you go. But I hope you'll continue to listen to my show. We do a variety of issues up here, and I think you have a better sense of what this show is all about having listened tonight. Thank you for listening, all right, Keith got Thank you Keith Scott, Alan Curley a great hour. Absolution The Dark Path to Light. The book is available and Amazon, I assume everywhere.
Right Amazon, you can buy it in barns and now will go to any anywhere books are sold, either online or in stores. You can find it. If it's not in the bookstore, so just go to the front count and make an order for you to have it for you the next day.
Sounds great, Scott Alan Curley, I hope to meet you someday if I get down your way, you get up to way. You are an inspiration and I feel I know you have to have spent an hour with you, and you're an extraordinary person. Thank you so much for being.
I really appreciate you. Dan, you have a wonderful rest of your evening. And to your listeners, I thank them all and God bless all of you. Guys.
Right back at you, well we come back. We got one more hour to go. Right after the eleven o'clock news here on night Side on a Wednesday night,