The woman was Martha Stewart, and she herself had swung to a new low. It was her third day in prison, and she'd endured a mandatory strip search and the issuance of prison khakis and T-shirt. And yet there were splashes of color in her bleak new world. Joining 59 other women in a dormitory-style "cottage," she was assigned a lower bunk—a good thing in prison living.
As, apparently, was the welcome from many fellow prisoners. "My mom told me [Stewart] was bombarded by inmates saying, 'Hey. Martha,' " says Cornell University freshman Crystal Thomas, 18, who was visiting her mother at Alderson. "She would just smile and wave." It appears the multimillionaire, beginning a five-month sentence for conspiracy and obstruction of justice, is working hard to fit in. "She wants to be friendly and open," says R. Couri Hay, society editor for Hamptons magazine. "I was told she said, 'I just want to be one of the girls.' "
For Alderson's 1,040 female inmates—most of them in on drug offenses—visiting hours run 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Friday through Sunday and 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on Mondays. The usually packed visitors' area includes a patio and the swing sets. Stewart, 63, spent much of her first weekend there playing Scrabble and Yahtzee with her daughter Alexis, 39, and Kevin Sharkey, a friend and editor at Stewart's magazine Living. "They were really pleasant," says another visitor, "but guarded."
Other people who saw her there agree. "She smiles at everyone," says Figueroa. "I saw her start a conversation with a visitor as she waited in line for coffee." On her first visit, Figueroa reports, Alexis ran into an unforeseen glitch: Vending machines provide the only food for guests—including microwave pizzas, sandwiches and barbecued chicken wings. She didn't bring enough quarters, so to get a meal she had to leave early. And once visitors leave, they cannot return that day.
Clearly, Stewart is not in Westport anymore. She'll sleep in the dorm while undergoing a series of physical and mental tests to determine what prison jobs she is suited for, some of which—such as landscaping the 159-acre campus—would seem to play to her strengths. Like all other prisoners, for the first 90 days Stewart will be assigned to kitchen duty. And prison food—mostly carbs and meat like pressed turkey or fried chicken—will be a shock. "I was told Martha has a nutritionist and a doctor who advise her," says Hay, who speaks to people close to Stewart. "She has been meditating and practicing breathing. She wants to come out stronger, fitter and healthier than when she went in."
After orientation Stewart will be assigned to a two-person cubicle. "Half the battle is finding a good roommate, because some of these people will steal you blind," says Pam Carson, 42, released from Alderson in September after a five-month term for embezzlement. "I've never in my life heard more F-words-and everyone screams. There is some fighting—I saw a bad fight over hair dye once."
Still, personal safety seems a non-issue—Alderson is a minimum-security facility that carefully screens out violent offenders. Given her promising start, will Stewart experience any rehabilitation while behind bars? If so, most agree, it will be by viewing her time, as the inmate handbook prescribes, "as an opportunity to prepare for a better tomorrow."
"If her attitude is right, she can give other inmates a lot of direction in their lives," says Robert Hopkins, 57, who retired in 1997 after 27 years as an Alderson landscaper. "I believe they will look up to her—she's a strong lady."
Richard Jerome. Jane Sims Podesta, Alicia C. Shepard and Melody Simmons in Alderson and Sharon Cotliar in New York City
- Contributors:
- Jane Sims Podesta,
- Alicia C. Shepard,
- Melody Simmons,
- Sharon Cotliar.
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
