A multi-recidivist and after seventeen years of incarceration, Albert Race Sample, author of Racehoss: Big Emma’s Boy, became the first ex-convict in Texas to work out of the Office of the Governor, to serve as a probation officer for Travis County, and to serve on the staff of the State Bar of Texas. He was granted a full pardon and restoration of all civil rights in 1976. The recipient of numerous humanitarian awards and the Outstanding Crime Prevention Citizen of Texas Award, Sample resided in Austin with his wife, Carol, until his passing in 2005.
