The Twelfth of August: The authorized biography of Walking Tall: Sheriff Buford Pusser by W.R. Morris (published by Cherokee Press, Reagan, 254 pages, $19.95).

Most of us live in peaceful communities; when we experience any slight disturbance outside our houses, we reach for the telephone, and the police officers are right at our front doors. With this understanding, the crime rates are down in 1997 (except for baby street gangs members going crazy on drugs), and many people in America enjoy peaceful neighborhoods created by lack of social unrest. However, we sometimes don't think about those police officers who sacrifice their lives to bring us the type of law and order we enjoy today.

Maintaining a peaceful society has not been easy. There was a time the rules of the gangsters was the law in some communities across the United States, like the Chicago mob in the early '90s. Law enforcement officers fought hard to get rid of the mob's control of communities across the country. Many of them paid with their lives or the lives of their family members.

The Twelfth of August is the account of the story of a sheriff known as the "Walking Tall" Sheriff Buford Pusser's authorized biography. It was a best-seller when it was first published in 1971, and inspired the "Walking Tall" movies. the mob murdered the judge, his wife, and the sheriff's wife. Sheriff Buford Pusser was also critically wounded. This new version of the book contains new revelations, such as the verdict handed down by the court.

Reading this story will help people to understand the sacrifice of law enforcement officers and the price some of them have paid in bringing peace to our communities.

The Twelfth of August is more than a biography; it is also a tribute to men in uniform and those who sacrificed their lives to bring us law and order. (Contact person: Rex Carter: 901-967-1341.)