By Jon MichaudIn April 1962, Robert Beck, who later achieved lasting fame under the pen name Iceberg Slim , was released from the Chicago House of Correction after serving 10 months in solitary confinement in a cell not much bigger than a coffin. A career criminal, Beck had been incarcerated numerous times from the age of 14 , including an 18-month stint in the federal penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kan.