THE EDUCATOR, PRODUCER, RECORDING ENGINEER HAS BEEN BRINGING TOP PERFORMERS TO THE Q FOR DECADES
Not everyone has the privilege to work with famous artists of jazz and rock, from Miles Davis to the Rolling Stones, but Rock & Roll Hall of Fame member and San Quentin volunteer Tom Lapinski accumulated these experiences over 23 years as producer and director of the Bay Area Music Awards, which he later expanded to the California Music Awards.
Lapinski, a well-known figure at San Quentin, has brought many famous artists into the prison to perform for the incarcerated community: Waylon Jennings, Eartha Kitt, Country Joe and the Fish, and others.
The humble, avuncular and high-spirited 73-year-old continues to serve the incarcerated population by volunteering for several self-help and religious programs. He spends much time at the San Quentin Media Center.
Lapinski has worked with multiple San Quentin media projects such as Uncuffed, Ear Hustle and the San Quentin News. He also volunteers at the prison’s Protestant Chapel.
He currently works with Dr. Emily Anderson, a psychologist, on the upcoming Mental Health Awareness Month scheduled for September.
In 1979, Lapinski and Dennis Jones, an incarcerated person at San Quentin, founded the Freedom Foundation, the first organization to work toward exonerating wrongfully convicted persons. “We did this way before the Innocence Project,” Lapinski said.
The foundation worked with attorneys and politicians to afford justice to the wrongfully convicted. Much of its funding came from the music world. Presently, the organization is struggling to maintain its financial support and has put out a call for new donors.
In 1980, CDC Secretary Howard Way recognized the importance of the organization to the incarcerated population and reached out to Lapinski. “He said, ‘Come to Sacramento, I want to talk to you,’ and we started the non-profit,” said Lapinski.
Born in Brooklyn, Lapinski came to California with a master’s degree in education from C. W. Post in Long Island. With the degree, he taught first grade at Saint Steven Church on Belvedere Island in Marin County. In 1976, he started Mount Tamalpais Primary School in Mill Valley.
“On the radio, I heard about Mimi Fariña and Bread and Roses. Their concept of bringing free live entertainment to shut-ins sounded good to me and I joined the staff of Bread and Roses, which gave me access to San Quentin in August of 1977.”
The prison had fascinated Lapinski since his youth. “When I was a kid, I read about Black Bart, who was a stagecoach robber from the 1880s; he only stole from Wells Fargo.” At San Quentin, he met a living stagecoach robber. “This guy has been in for 50 years; can you imagine being incarcerated since the 1920s?”
Lapinski has witnessed a lot of change at San Quentin. He clearly recalls its reputation as “notorious,” because of famous San Quentin residents. “Despite all the crazy stuff that was going on inside the prison, people were happy when I brought shows into the yard. They wanted entertainment.”
In terms of respect between staff and residents, Lapinski said, “Back then, people were not as friendly as today.”
“Now it is a Level II, more relaxed and calmer. Going into a Level II, you lose people that are more violent. Everyone wants to do the right thing and they all want to go home and do good.” He added that he saw the same attitude in college.
Asked about the various wardens with whom he has worked, Lapinski said, “George Sumner understood what I wanted to do, and Vasquez, he was a pretty good guy who made things happen. There was an AW, Dick Nelson; he was the guy who helped us to get the nonprofit foundation to work to exonerate the wrongly convicted. AW Dick Nelson and San Quentin warden George Sumner supported my foundation.”
Lapinski expressed optimism about the current administration. “I really do have the expectation that the new warden is the real deal, he seems to care about what we do in here. There was an event celebrating his appointment at San Quentin and 650 people attended. They care about this warden.”
“I think that it is fantastic what people are doing in here. It is amazing that people are getting degrees. Getting an education in here makes it more likely to get out and make it out there.”
Lapinski said that seeing the good thing that people have in here motivates him. “Every time I come in here I walk through the Lower Yard and they’re all like, ‘Hey, Tom, how are you doing?’ and that makes me feel good and gives them and me something to push forward.”
Lapinski believes in a hopeful future for San Quentin, noting the prison’s advantage with its location in a major metropolitan area. “All the prisons are far away in remote areas. This is a major metropolitan area and there is no other prison that has such capacity. People are learning skills in here doing videos, college, newspapers and many other things that other prisons don’t have.”
Lapinski said that he continuously reaches out to artists who may want to participate in future projects at San Quentin, including some famous ones. Asked about names, he said he didn’t want to spoil the surprise.
