Press Release

Inspiring memoir follows one man's crusade against racist and abusive juvenile center

Children Denny had never met were given a chance at a safer life because of one man's commitment and courage. - John Walsh, host of America's Most Wanted and founder of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Montgomery, AL -- As a young man, Denny Abbott repeatedly clashed with the State of Alabama as he fought to end beatings and sexual abuse of black children at a segregated state institution that was supposed to protect and educate them. They Had No Voice: My Fight for Alabama's Forgotten Children details Abbott's discovery of that abuse in the late 1960s when he was a youth probation officer in Montgomery.

Frustrated by unsuccessful attempts to reason with racist officials, Abbott sought justice in federal court. In doing so, he placed his family and his career in peril and became a pariah in his home town. Abbott's ultimate triumph on behalf of those children led to a new calling as a nationally recognized children's advocate. He was the first national director of the Adam Walsh Child Resource Center, now known as the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

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Denny Abbott has testified before Congress as well as state legislatures on important issues affecting children, and he has been interviewed on 60 Minutes, the CBS Evening News and The Today Show. Denny was born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, and now lives in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Co-author Douglas Kalajian is author of the nonfiction book Snow Blind and is a former writer and editor for The Miami Herald, New York Daily News and Palm Beach Post.