Tim Hampton (author)

Tim Hampton (August 18, 1974) is an American Author who was born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas. A former Texas and Florida Prison Guard, Tim is best known for writing his first book entitled 'Holding My Own' in 2005. Tim's first book was initially banned by the Texas prison system. Hampton sought the help of his childhood friend, Attorney Langston Adams who contacted Texas Governor Rick Perry, who then intervened and prison officials decided 'Holding My Own' was not a security threat and they removed it from their list of banned publications. In 2007 Hampton released his second book titled Still Holding My Own a sequel to 'Holding My Own' which describes his duties and ultimate decision to end his prison career in the State of Florida prison system. Controversy surrounded his departure from the Florida prison system, as Hampton posted his resignation letter on his personal web site detailing what he described as vicious, sadistic staff members who treated inmates in cruel and unusual ways.

Early life
By the time Tim Hampton reached the age of 5 he had lived in many different homes and with many different foster families, as a result of his biological mothers drug and alcohol addiction. In 1980 Tim went to live with his father in New Orleans, Louisiana only to return to Texas a few months later and reside with his grandparents because his father was in trouble with law enforcement and gangs. In 1985 Tim was reunited with his biological mother who had successfully defeated her drug addiction and had landed employment as a school bus driver. On November 3, 1988 Tim was in his 9th grade class when the school principal pulled him out of class, and told him his mother had been shot and killed by a ten year old student. Tim bounced around from home to home until finally being taken in by his good friend Chad Butler's (Former Rapper known as Pimp C, ) mother Weslyn Monroe. In 1992 Tim graduated from Abraham Lincoln High school, attended Lamar University majoring in criminal justice and psychology. In 1994 Tim gained employment as a Texas prison guard and took on a second job as a mental health counselor in Beaumont, Texas. In 1995 Tim's first child (Danielle Hampton) was born. Although never married Tim made sure to always be involved in his daughters life. In 2003 Tim Hampton decided to move to Tampa, Florida and "start his life all over again." Today Tim holds a BA in psychology, has traveled to many U.S. cities speaking to youth about his childhood and the dangers of the prison systems. Tim is also raising his daughter Danielle who currently resides with him in Clearwater, Florida.

Career
In September 1994 Tim graduated from the Lamar University institute of Technology as a certified Corrections Officer. In March 1995 Tim began his career as a Prison Guard at the Mark W. Stiles maximum security prison unit located in Beaumont, Tx.Also that year Tim gained part time employment as a mental health counselor for Spindletop MHMR. In 1999 Hampton transferred to the Central Unit, a minimum security prison located in Sugarland, Tx. where he worked for one year. Hampton returned to the Mark W. Stiles unit in 2000 and shortly thereafter was promoted to Sergeant of Correctional Officers where he oversaw 96 prison guards. Citing devastating life changes, in 2003 Hampton relocated to Tampa, FL and began work as a mental health crisis counselor for PEMHS. In 2004 Hampton attended Hillsborough Community College criminal justice academy and gained FDLE certification. Hampton went to work at Hillsborough Correctional institution where he worked for only 8 months before deciding to end his prison career. Today Tim is employed as a mental health counselor for Baycare Health. In 2005 Hampton wrote 'Holding My Own' a story about his experience as a Texas Prison Guard, which found itself on several best seller lists. He claims his biggest fan was Pimp C, who was incarcerated at the time and encouraged him to write more. In 2007 Tim wrote 'Still Holding My Own' which gave details about his untimely resignation from the State of Florida Department of Corrections. The book has received positive reviews from customers, including other former prison guards. Looking back on his life, Tim wrote another book which described all he has been through and how he overcame much adversity in his life and titled it 'He Held His Own' a book that ended up being distributed to over 100,000 persons nationwide. In 2010 Tim decided that he wanted to create audiobooks so he converted 'Still Holding My Own' into an audiobook and shortly thereafter created the audiobooks 'Holding Our Own' and 'Holding'. 'Holding' is getting major attention from professional athletes.

In December 2011 Hampton was honored to write the Foreword to Marcus Parker's latest book The Final Product.