Editor's Biography

Dennis Skillicorn

Dennis Skillicorn, 44, was named editor of Compassion in March 2003 after serving as assistant editor the previous year. As editor, he focuses on victims and reconciliation. He also encourages other death row inmates to make positive contributions to Compassion, society, and their own environments.
His involvement in a cross-country crime spree put Dennis on Missouri's Death Row in 1996. Since his arrest in 1994, Dennis has dedicated his life to God, restorative justice efforts, and helping youths avoid his own mistakes. He has earned his way to a cell in the prison's honor dorm (death row inmates may live in general population in Missouri). He is active in several organizations and programs including:

• Volunteer in the prison's hospice program, where he cares for terminally ill inmates
• Full-time worker for the Set Free Ministry, a prison ministry that reaches thousands of inmates in Missouri and Illinois annually
• Founding member of award-winning 4-H L.I.F.E. (Living Interactive Family Education), a family-strengthening program that features a 4-H club at the prison for the whole family, along with parenting classes for incarcerated fathers, brothers, uncles, and grandfathers.
• Leader and founding member of the Christian Men's Council at P.C.C.
• Active participant in restorative justice efforts at the prison and in conjunction with community and school groups, including Special Olympics and Relay for Life fundraisers
• Instrumental in getting visiting room improvements for children and families
• Coordinated efforts to reinstate marriage seminars and marriage support for incarcerated men and their wives at the prison
• Facilitator of Full Circle, a comprehensive life skills program that teaches positive alternative thinking and actions to inmates who will be paroled.