Sheriff Takes The Stand
The Book - Herman Pierce was sheriff of Ozark County for twenty years, 1965-1985. In retirement, the reminiscences of this exhilarating period in his life - the highs and lows he experienced with “ his people,” their laughter and tears, their good times and bad - all come together as he retells his story.

Herman was respected not only as sheriff, but also as an advisor regarding personal problems. He took the time to help his people in many ways. He felt his job entailed much more than being a law officer, and he put much more into it. At the same time, in response to popular demand, an attempt has been made to capture the personality of the former sheriff: he’s gentle, he’s kind-hearten, he’s loving with animals and children. Yet, he’s all piss and vinegar, he’s as stubborn as the well-known state symbol. He’s tough, fearless, volatile, opinionated; yet he’s charismatic. Above all, since this is Herman’s book, Herman will call it as he sees it, he will pull no punch; he will have his day in court in SHERIFF TAKES THE STAND.

The Authors - The roots of Herman Pierce in Ozark County, Missouri, were established when his grandfather, Levi Pierce, moved into the little mountain hamlet of Zanoni in 1913. Because Levi Pierce was an educated man (in an era and area where most folks were lucky to have attained a sixth-grade education), he was called “Professor Pierce,” and was the leading educator in the area’s one-room school houses for forty-nine years. Always immaculately groomed, wearing a long black frock coat and tall stovepipe hat, the Professor was an impressive figure and a revered community leader.

Having been born and raised in the Gainesville area, and having received training in the army and experience in combat as an infantryman in the North African and Italian campaigns of World War II, Herman Pierce was well qualified when he was urged to run for the office of sheriff. No sheriff before or since was as much loved as Herman, or as much respected - regardless of from which side of the law one viewed the man.

Working with Herman is Thel Spencer, a writer from Springfield, Missouri, formerly a junior college instructor and Ozark County English teacher. Ms. Spencer’s roots in Baxter County, Arkansas, go back to 1824 when her great, great, great, uncle, Major Jacob Wolf, was the first Indian agent in the Arkansas Territory, Major Wolf built a dog-trot type, two-story log house at the confluence of the White and Norfolk Rivers and established a settlement at what is now the village of Norfolk. The only member of their family not born in Arkansas, Ms. Spencer was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and now resides in Gainesville, where she is actively involved with people writing about their lives.

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