What would you do if you were jailed for a crime you didn’t commit?

Could you forgive the person who put you in jail?

That’s the true story of Ron Cotton, a North Carolina man who was accused, tried and jailed for a rape he didn’t commit.  It’s also the story of rape victim Jennifer Thompson-Cannino, who put Cotton in jail through her testimony. How they both reacted after Cotton was exonerated through DNA evidence is the subject of the GPC Reads 2014-15 selection “Picking Cotton: Our Memoir of Injustice and Redemption,” by Jennifer Thompson-Cannino and Ronald Cotton (with Erin Torneo.)

Both Cotton and Thompson-Cannino will be at GPC on Wednesday, Nov. 12. They will talk about their personal experiences and how both have become unlikely friends and advocates for The Innocence Project, a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals through DNA testing.

Cotton will speak at 10 a.m. in the NC-1100 auditorium on Dunwoody Campus, and both Thompson-Cannino and Cotton will be on hand for a talk at 2 p.m. in the Cole Auditorium on Clarkston Campus.

“This book is the story about redemption and forgiveness,” says Mary Helen O’Connor, GPC English professor and the GPC Reads facilitator. “It’s particularly timely for today—where it seems that no two sides can agree on anything. This is a great lesson for us—and for our communities,” she says.

In addition to the author talk, GPC Reads is sponsoring a multi-media contest for students. 

“This is the first time we’ll have a contest for GPC Reads where students will have multiple ways of communicating their story whether it’s through art, print or multi-media presentations,” says O’Connor. “We hope students capture and represent the overarching theme of the book.”

For information on the contest, contact O’Connor at Maryhelen@oconnor@gpc.edu