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Reflections on the carnage of Attica from 'The Prison Guard's Daughter'

There have been many prison uprisings in American history, but none as deadly as the sequence of events at Attica prison in New York State more than 50 years ago.

The state's armed assault to re-take the prison from inmates caused most of the 43 deaths. One guard died at the hands of inmates, Billy Quinn. His daughter Deanne was just five years old at the time, and spent a good bit of her life trying to make sense of what happened to her father.

It took meeting families of other victims, and inmates, that led her to a better understanding... and to a book, The Prison Guard's Daughter: My Journey Through the Ashes of Attica.

Deanne is now Deanne Quinn Miller; she talks about humanity, forgiveness, and prison reform in a chat with the Exchange.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Natalie Golay is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Mike Green hosts the show.