When I was in college in the late 1970s I had the good fortune to go London for a group of journalism seminars and tours and such.

One of the places we visited was Amnesty International. It was a run down, messy old office. They had already accomplished much, but I didn't know it at the time.

I have fond memories still of talking to the people there who took their time to discuss their work with little old me (and a few others in my class).

One of them gave me a small book they published written by an Iranian journalist while he was imprisoned by the Pahlavi regime. The journalist had scratched part of the book into drywall, and put the drywall back into the hole where he found it (I don't know how he got it to others later). Other times, he found a way to inscribe notes into toilet paper and napkins.

I wish I still had the book. I don't even recall the name of it or the author. I do know he never made it out of that Iranian prison.

Great perspective. We think that can't happen here. I'm not so sure these days.