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Willie is now 52, and since his sentence was commuted he has been allowed to work. He is highly respected - he has survived the row and that makes him a rarity. We still write and, after 20 years, I'm still struck by the friendship that's grown between us. He's an African-American Southern Baptist, patriotic and conservative, with a military background. I'm a white, Scottish, middle-class liberal, happily married with no religious allegiance. It is the most unlikely of pairings, yet ours is one of the most enduring friendships in my life. Every letter I receive from Willie strengthens my belief that none of us should be judged for ever by the worst that we have done.