EX-CONVICT ANSWERS CALL TO SERVE AS PRISON CHAPLAIN.

Byline: Associated Press 

In that narrow space between a car door and seat, usually the receptacle for minor items such as pens, gum and receipts, the Rev. George Holley found grace.

Holley's gun fell in that space after his car skidded on an icy road and crashed into the side of a mountain Jan. 12, 1979. And because he couldn't reach his gun, he couldn't kill himself.

Holley had just held up three people at gunpoint in the post office in Cashiers, netting $89.50. He crashed his car while being chased by law enforcement officers.

"I really thought that day that life would be ended. I wrote a 'Goodbye, world' note," Holley said in a recent interview at his crowded office at Craggy Prison, where he now is chaplain. "After the robbery, when the car skidded into the mountainside, I decided to finish it."

Holley, whose marriage was falling apart, had returned from Atlanta to Cashiers in Jackson County, where he and his first wife spent their honeymoon. His deep pain over the marriage breakup was the catalyst for his crime, he said.

Holley, 54, survived 9-1/2 years in prison, three years of it at the old Craggy Prison. The facility where he now works was built in 1989.

He also spent four months in the old - and since torn down - Central Prison. Conditions were so bad that pigeons lived in the cells with the inmates. "I was praying to God to let me die," Holley says.

Then came the months at Odom Correctional Institute in Jackson, where he met a chaplain who gave him words of hope: "Don't give up. God's not through with you yet."

Now Holley spends his days counseling and consoling prisoners who believe him when he says he knows what they're going through.

He has an easy way with the prisoners, calling them by name, asking about family as he walks between the buildings.

"He shows us a bit of compassion and comfort. That's something we don't find here very often," says William Rasor, 28, of Taylorsville, who is serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and armed robbery.

Contacts with inmates have increased since Holley took over in November 1995, says Wayne Morrow, who volunteers as associate chaplain.

In December 1995, the chaplain's office had 200 one-on-one sessions with prisoners, compared with 75 in December 1994. He credits Holley with the increase.

"One of the things I do a lot is relieve pressure," Holley says. "They can come to me when they're not comfortable going to a custodial officer, and I can listen."

He does not suggest to inmates that converting to Christianity is a way out of prison. Religious beliefs can help a man deal with prison and become a constructive person, he says. But that's all.

Holley was ordained at the age of 19 in a Baptist church. He was working as an assistant minister at a large church in Atlanta when his marriage broke up. He left the church and for about a year he held several jobs, including sales.

Frank Shirley, now the western area supervisory chaplain for 12 prisons, met Holley the first day he came to Craggy as a prisoner. Holley became Shirley's clerk, and eventually took over much of the pastoral care while Shirley traveled.

After his release, Holley volunteered in the chaplain's office.

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Photo Chaplain George Holley, center, talks with inmates Anthony Lowery, left, and William Rasor at Craggy Prison, where Holley was an inmate. Associated Press