The Last Public Execution in America
by Perry T. Ryan
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Perry Thomas Ryan was born November 26, 1962, in Owensboro,
Kentucky, the son of Thomas Lawrence and Lula Yvonne Miller Ryan. As
a child, he was reared in Hardinsburg, Kentucky.
Perry graduated with honors from the Breckinridge County High
School in 1980. Afterward, he attended classes in England, Scotland,
and Wales during the summer of 1980 as part of an international
studies program. He entered the University of Kentucky in August of
1980.
In November of 1980, Perry was commissioned a Deputy County Clerk
of Breckinridge County. In this capacity, he was given the
responsibility of answering citizens' requests for genealogical
research which came into the County Clerk's office. Having to
research historic records, this part-time job spawned much of his
interest in legal history.
Perry's first book, The Ryan Family of Breckinridge County,
Kentucky, a genealogy of his own family, was published in 1983.
In April of 1984, he was admitted to Phi Beta Kappa, a scholastic
honorary of the University of Kentucky. In May of 1984, he graduated
from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in history, and he
graduated again in December of 1984 with a B.A.Ed. in secondary
education.
Perry taught in the Fayette County Public Schools during the
1984-1985 academic year. During this time, he authored his second
publication, a teacher's manual designed to assist social studies
teachers develop teaching units about the criminal justice system.
Perry entered the University of Kentucky College of Law in August
of 1985, and graduated in May of 1988 with the degree of Doctor of
Jurisprudence (J.D.). Successfully completing the Kentucky Bar
Examination in the summer of 1988, he was admitted to the bar on
November 4, 1988.
On December 6, 1988, Perry was appointed an Assistant Attorney
General of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, where he presently
prosecutes criminal cases in the appellate courts of Kentucky. His
most recent book, Legal Lynching: The Plight of Sam Jennings,
was published in 1989.
Chris Gorman
Attorney General
