Breaking the Chains A Survivor's Journey

"Breaking The Chains, A Survivor's Journey written by Wayne Davidson is the story of his life centering mainly on his time as a prisoner at Brushy Mountain State Penitentiary. Wayne had a hard childhood but he does not use that as an excuse for the substantial criminal activity he participated in. He describes these crimes in an honest straightforward way. He is a person that has lived outside the law much of his life, but was never one to hurt anyone physically, not even in prison, where he learned to survive by his wits rather than fists or shanks. It's a great read and most interesting in terms of local history, crime, our success or lack thereof in our treatment and rehabilitation of criminals." - Jim SloanWhen I was a child growing up in a small town in East Tennessee, I knew that I would end up in prison. How could I not when the only way of life that I knew was to steal from others? Do you feel like you've gone down a path for so long that there's no turning back and you can't break the chains? I spent 32 years in and out of penitentiaries and ended up with a life sentence. But I didn't let my story end there. This book is an account of how I survived through one prison sentence after another, the crimes that I committed to earn these sentences, to my present day life as a tour guide at Brushy Mountain Prison and sharing my life experiences with others. My story begins with my childhood filled with bootlegging, abandonment, theft and deceit. My first prison sentence at 18 years old landed me in Brushy Mountain Penitentiary, where the worst of the worst were sent. I was an inmate with a one year sentence and was thrown in with lifelong criminals that had 100+ years' sentences for murder, rape and other violent crimes. It didn't take me long to learn that if I was to survive in this environment, I needed to outsmart the others. I have served time with many "famous" prisoners, such as James Earl Ray, Steven Hugueley, Tim Kirk, and Benny Hodge, just to name a few. Follow my journey through several different prisons located in Tennessee and Georgia. Learn about the prison way of life filled with violence and politics.Breaking The Chains is the story of my life, the good, the bad and the ugly.