On the 50th anniversary of America’s deadliest prison riot comes a prison-guard daughter’s quest to uncover the truth about her father’s murder during the uprising―a story of crossing racial divides, befriending inmates and correctional officers alike, and challenging the state to reveal and pay for its malfeasance.

Deanne Quinn Miller was five years old when her father―William “Billy” Quinn―was murdered in the first minutes of the Attica Prison Riot, the only corrections officer to die at the hands of inmates. But how did he die? Who were the killers? Those questions haunted Dee and wreaked havoc on her psyche for thirty years. Finally, when she joined the Forgotten Victims of Attica, she began to find answers. This began the process of bringing closure not only for herself but for the other victims’ families, the former prisoners she met, and all of those who perished on September 13, 1971―the day of the “retaking,” when New York State troopers and corrections officers at the Attica Correctional facility slaughtered twenty-nine rioting prisoners and ten hostages in a hail of gunfire.

In The Prison Guard’s Daughter, Dee brings readers in on her lifelong mission for the truth and justice for the Attica survivors and the families of the men who lost their lives. But the real win was the journey that crossed racial and criminal-justice divides: befriending infamous Attica prisoner Frank “Big Black” Smith, meeting Richard Clark and other inmates who tried to carry her father to safety after his beating, and learning what life was like for all of the people―prisoners and prison employees alike―inside Attica. 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.

The Prison Guard’s Daughter: My Journey Through the Ashes of Attica will be released on September 7, 2021 and can be purchased at the locations listed below.

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Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

“Miller provides a welcome testimonial to the hardships suffered by Attica prison families and to the healing power of reconciliation.”

Sister Helen Prejean

“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.”

Heather Ann Thompson

“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.” 

Mike Jimenez

“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.”

Booklist

“[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.”