About The Founders
Originally from Cardiff, South Wales, Michael joined the Royal Air Force at 16 and after serving nine years began a life as a songwriter and musician.
After several years of making wonderful music with two great friends Christopher Jones and David Hughes he decided to study Furniture Design and later moving into Interior and Graphic Design. He left professional design to become a teacher [of design], rising to Director of Design Technology in several London [UK] inner city schools.
During this period Michael again took up the reigns of his musical past with John Shirbon, writing numerous songs and producing two fine CDs called “Some Other Time” and “This I know.” Selected tracks are featured on the CD – “Sundays in the South – 30 Selected Poems set to Music.” In 2004 Michael met Tamara and moved to the United States from the UK. They were married in New Orleans, Louisiana and decided to start a publishing company with a difference in New London, Connecticut, and current in North Platte, NE. Little Red Cell is their second publishing venture specifically designed to publish the work of present or former prisoners.
Fr. Russ Carmichael, born in Oceanside, CA, but raised in Newton, MA. He was active during the time of the Boston gang wars and the Whitey Bulger era, and later served time in Walpole and Norfolk Stat prisons ’68 to ’71. While there he organized the prison population of MA and became founder and Chairman of the National Prisoners Reform Associate (NPRA). In the 1979 he moved to Arizona, converted to the teachings of Jesus and became an oblate member of St. David, Arizona. Russ came to New London, CT in 2003 because of an injury to his daughter, stayed, and is now working to help the homeless and people coming home from prison, and to help them stay out of prison. He is the founder and president of the New London Grassroots Homeless Coalition. Russ works closely with Bobby Delello, who wrote When the Prisoners Ran Walpole.They use community television and new media strategies to connect people and open up dialogue about criminal justice. Russ, met Michael Linnard in New London at a poetry reading a few years ago and after many meetings and discussions about the creative work of prisoners, decided to help found Little Red Cell publishing.