“To lose everything, to be reduced to nothing… then suddenly to be given everything!” These words best describe Harold Morris’ life journey.

He grew up in Georgetown, SC and was a promising all-state athlete in three sports. His future was very bright. Just an ordinary person, he managed to make poor choices that landed him in extraordinary trouble. He was betrayed by people he thought were friends. And at age 29 he was falsely convicted of armed robbery and murder and began serving two life sentences. He spent the next nine years behind bars, struggling to survive in what was widely recognized as the worst prison in the United States - Georgia State Penitentiary. But inside prison he found something unexpected; he found hope. Some very special people came into his life, and changed him forever. They introduced him to the love and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

At the request of a young friend, and with encouragement from the warden, Harold reluctantly went one day to a local high school to tell his story of how he ended up in prison to the students. Feeling humble and humiliated, and still in his prison uniform, Harold shared his mistakes of associating with the wrong people. He told them about how his life got on the wrong track because of his poor decisions. The students listened, and in telling his story, Harold realized that perhaps he could make a difference in their lives, and prevent them from going down the path he had traveled.

Correspondence from teenagers who were inspired by Harold started coming in, and before long, schools around Georgia were requesting Harold to come and talk to their students. Harold had a natural gift in talking to those teenagers. He warned them but didn’t preach to them. He helped them see that they had a choice, that the stakes in life could be high, and that the decision was up to them.

Life in prison was the worst of times, and some of the most blessed. Harold made a life changing friendship while in prison with a black man named “Doc” who’s early adulthood mirrored his own. From bitter enemies simply by race to the closest of friends, Harold maintains that his cell-mate saved his life and taught him lessons about life and love that he treasures for a life time.

After almost a decade behind bars, Harold Morris was paroled in 1978. He finally received a commutation from the state of Georgia, restoring all of his individual and civil liberties, and in 1981, on the day before he was graduated from Bible college.

Harold then dedicated his life to speaking to millions of young people in the United States and around the world about the dangers of drugs and alcohol and associating with the wrong crowd - the very things that had landed him in prison. For years he shared his tragic story, emphasizing the importance of making the right choices early in life. He shared his faith in Christ with young people in high schools and colleges across America and around the world. His influence also today extends to churches, civic clubs, professional athletic teams and prisons.

In 1984, one of his talks was aired on Dr. James Dobson’s “Focus on the Family” radio program, and the response was overwhelming. Over 35,000 letters poured in from people all over the country who wanted to share the dramatic impact Harold’s message had on them and their lives. .

Harold began writing in 1984 when he was diagnosed with terminal throat cancer. He wanted to put his life story on paper, so his message would endure. His battle with cancer was extremely hard, and he writes about the excruciating pain he suffered as a result of radiation therapy. Through some very dark days he found great comfort and strength through scripture. At a check-up after months of grueling treatments, he was told that the cancer was gone. He would live, he had won the battle, but the harmful side effects of radiation had left him permanently physically impaired.

In 1991, thirteen years after his release from prison, Harold Morris received the Vice Presidential Humanitarian Award of Honor in Washington, D.C. for his contribution to the lives of youth and prison inmates. Today, Harold leads a quiet life in a small town in north Georgia. He no longer speaks publicly, but he finds tremendous reward and comfort in knowing that he has made a difference in other people’s lives.