Walking On: A Daughter's Journey with Legendary Sheriff Buford Pusser - Softcover

In the 1960s, the state line corridor between Mississippi and Tennessee harbored an underworld of gamblers, crooks, mobsters, and murderers. During this time, Buford Pusser, sheriff of McNairy County, took a hard stance against the vices and villains threatening the safety of his city in southern Tennessee. In his six years as sheriff, Pusser jailed more than seventy-five hundred people. He was stabbed seven times, shot eight times, and held his own when he got into a fight with six men at once: three of them went to the hospital and the other three went to jail.

Beneath the tough exterior, however, Pusser fostered a softness for his family. After Pusser's wife, Pauline, was murdered in an ambush, which he himself barely survived, he was left to care for his children alone. With the support of his family and community, he raised his children for the next seven years, until he too met an unexpected and dramatic death. Pusser's life was turned into a film, and the film turned him into a legend. Now for the first time, Buford Pusser's daughter presents the story of her father's life and legacy from the family's perspective.

In this intimate and devoted biography, Dwana Pusser examines her father's life from his childhood in Adamsville, Tennessee, through his incredible tenure as sheriff, his sudden stardom in the 1970s, and his controversial death by automobile accident in 1974. With feeling and fondness, Dwana shares her private childhood memories alongside the stories of the thrilling feats that made her father famous. More than a history of his life, this volume is a study of Buford Pusser's presence in today's popular culture, for Dwana traces her family story to the present day and reveals never-before-seen documentation regarding the death of her father. Filled with respect and love, laughter and fear, and intrigue and reflection, the chapters in this volume unfold with the momentum of a heroic epic as Dwana embraces all of the complexities of her own family legacy.

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The daughter of Sheriff Pusser, Dwana Pusser is a wife, mother, and grandmother. Still living in the county where her father was born and raised, Dwana is actively involved with the Adamsville City Commission and Chamber of Commerce, along with tourism in the state of Tennessee. She worked for many years in radio broadcasting and also operated Pusser's Restaurant in Adamsville for nine years. She keeps alive the spirit and feats of her legendary father by maintaining a Web site in his honor and hosting the annual Buford Pusser Festival in Adamsville.

“The incredible legacy left behind by her father, Buford, will be forever remembered as one of great integrity, strength, and heart. It was an honor for me to have captured the spirit of Buford Pusser while filming Walking Tall, and it is certainly an honor to know the family and call them friends.”
—Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, actor and professional wrestler

“Find out the real story of famed Walking Tall movie sheriff Buford Pusser in Walking On, a fascinating biography.”
—Neil Pond, American Profile

“Browse the book for images of Pusser posing with Johnny Cash and Billy Graham or behind the wheel of his fateful Corvette with a gun, a badge, and a Bible.”
—Nashville Scene

“The book is not only a biography of Buford Pusser but also Dwana’s autobiography on her life as his daughter.”
—Jackson (TN) Sun

Buford Pusser’s daughter presents the story of the McNairy County sheriff’s life and legacy as it has truly never been told before.

Buford Pusser made a name for himself as the fearless lawman who walked tall and carried a big stick, but to Dwana Pusser, he was her loving father. Devoted to the memory of this legendary man, Dwana Pusser provides an intimate biography, introducing the sheriff as the man only his family and closest friends knew. Dwana Pusser’s tribute to her father is a unforgetable and captivating story of strength, perserverance, faith, and success.