The Prison Guard's Daughter: My Journey Through the Ashes of Attica

by Deanne Quinn Miller, Gary Craig Narrated by Rosemary Benson

Overview

On September 13, 1971, armed troops and corrections officers at the Attica Correctional Facility in upstate New York slaughtered twenty-nine rioting prisoners and ten hostages in a hail of gunfire. Negotiations for a peaceful resolution had stalled. The sticking point was the prisoners' final demand: amnesty for their murder of correctional officer William "Billy" Quinn, committed four days earlier during the takeover.



Deanne Quinn Miller was five years old when her father was killed, the only Attica employee to die at the hands of inmates. For nearly thirty years, authorities attempting to protect law enforcement fed Deanne Quinn Miller lies about Attica, its aftermath, and her father's death. Here she tells of her relentless quest for truth and justice-for herself, her family, and an entire community.



After the state settled a long-standing lawsuit with injured Attica inmates by awarding them $12 million, Miller cofounded the Forgotten Victims of Attica and succeeded in getting the same compensation for the hostages and their families-who had received no support from the state. As Miller lays bare the truth about her father's death, the world inside Attica, and the state's reckless raid and coverup, she conveys a narrative of compassionate humanity and a call for prison reform.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Deanne Quinn Miller’s life journey is a remarkable tale of healing and reconciliation, born from the tragedy of the nation’s deadliest prison uprising—the Attica riot that claimed the life of her father. The Prison Guard’s Daughter reminds us that we can reach across divides—racial, social, economic—and learn lessons about others that inevitably teach us about ourselves. In a world in which the chasms among people seem to swell wider every day, this book tells us that our true angels can prevail, as long as we are ready to engage them.”

—Sister Helen Prejean, author of Dead Man Walking: The Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty That Sparked a National Debate

“In the wake of the unimaginable trauma caused by the State of New York, there were the courageous few who had to endure even more pain to make sure that there was some reckoning with this horrific event, and some measure of justice for its victims. This is the extraordinarily beautiful story of one of the most courageous of those few, Dee Quinn Miller, who, quite literally, changed history.” 
—Heather Ann Thompson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and its Legacy

“This book tells the life story of a little girl struck by tragedy who finds strength and courage from seeking and finding other, and occasionally opposite, perspectives. Poignant and salient for anyone who cares about someone else who wears a badge.”
—Mike Jimenez, former President of the California Correctional Peace Officers’ Association 

“[The Prison Guard’s Daughter] is a personal, affecting, and eye-opening account of a pivotal tragedy on the seemingly endless road to prison reform.”
—Booklist

Library Journal

06/17/2022

On the 50th anniversary of one of the deadliest prison riots in the United States, this book highlights the personal quest by Miller (cofounder, Forgotten Victims of Attica) for answers about her father's death in the 1971 uprising at New York State's Attica Correctional Facility. Forty-three men were killed over the course of five-day riot: 10 correctional officers and 33 men imprisoned at Attica. Miller's father, William "Billy" Quinn, died when the author was only five years old; he was the riot's first casualty and the only correctional officer to be killed by the prisoners—the majority of the men who died (39 out of the 43, including 9 correctional officers) were killed by law enforcement gunfire. For more than 30 years, Miller searched sought answers about her father's death—who killed him? how did he die?—a journey that she recounts in this compelling, well-written book. Along the way, she befriended several of the imprisoned men who had participated in the Attica uprising and who helped her piece together information regarding Quinn's death. Among the book's conclusions is that the prison and state officials lied about the events of the uprising. It finds evidence that when law enforcement retook Attica on the riot's final, bloody day (when 39 men were killed in a hail of police bullets), they never attempted to rescue the correctional officers being held hostage inside the prison. VERDICT Miller's compassionate book (coauthored by investigative journalist Craig, who has reported on Attica for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle) discusses the state's deception around the Attica tragedy, grapples with forgiveness and reparations, and calls for prison reform.—Kristy White

Kirkus Reviews

2021-07-07
The daughter of a slain prison guard tells the story of her quest for truth, justice, and recompense for all prison worker families affected by the infamous 1971 Attica uprising.

Miller had just started first grade when her father was beaten by Attica rioters and left to die. His brutal, tragic death brought chaos to a once-happy family. The author began suffering from mysterious stomach problems, while her mother “was grieving herself while taking care of two young girls and a newborn.” Inevitably, Miller's family deflected most of the questions she later had about her father. She grew up knowing only that Attica prisoners were "monsters.” Meanwhile, everyone else regarded her with a maddening sympathy that suggested they “knew more about the death of our father than we did.” The lessons she learned in high school history class about Attica proved especially troubling in how they sympathized with prison rioters. It was this contradiction that led Miller to research the riots to learn what really happened to her father. For the next two decades, she followed the litigation that eventually ended in the late 1990s with damage awards to inmates Miller had held responsible for her father’s death. Outraged that Attica prison families had never received redress, the author co-founded the Forgotten Victims of Attica. As the leader of FVOA, she met with—and, to her surprise, later befriended—former inmate leaders who helped her understand that Attica prisoners and families were both victims of a state penal system bent on hiding the truth. Miller provides a welcome testimonial to the hardships suffered by Attica prison families and to the healing power of reconciliation. However, the drama inherent in the story and the narrative momentum suffer from redundant, pedestrian prose.

Miller’s courage and diligence are commendable, but the book is a dull treatment of an impassioned tale.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940176146318
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Edition description:	Unabridged

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