Remembering Sam Simmons:

About the Book

The book, Remembering Sam Simmons: A Community Sheriff, is about Samuel C. Simmons, a 29-year lawman with the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office. It focuses on the years from 1997-2002, when Sam held high ranking positions such as Chief Deputy, before being elected Sheriff in 2000. Sam served as Sheriff from January 1, 2001, to September 4, 2002, when he died unexpectedly from clogged arteries and a heart attack. The book includes interviews with numerous county leaders, such as Mr. Paul Wickensimer, Greenville County Clerk of Court; Ms. Lottie Gibson, Greenville County Councilwoman and civil rights advocate; and Belmont Fire Chief Anthony Segars, who is also a deputy coroner, and former president of the Greenville County Fire Chiefs Association. It discusses his community leadership and involvement, from “Operation Clean Sweep,” to Chairman of the United Way Community Planning Council in Greenville County. It is a love story of the deep and rare love between Sam and the author, his wife Mona.

About the Author

Mona R. Simmons received her Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) degree from the University of South Carolina and the College of Charleston in 1986. She participated in a Boston University study abroad program in London, England, where she studied British politics and worked as an intern for a Member of Parliament. In 1987, she moved to Arlington, VA, where she worked as a senior analyst for a defense contractor. In 1994, she returned home to Greenville, SC, where she lives today. From 1997-2003, she worked as founder and Director of Greenville County Safe Communities, which focused on the prevention and reduction of crimes, injuries and deaths through community partnerships. The Safe Communities program won numerous awards from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and Southeastern Crime Prevention Coalition. She worked extensively with the media, wrote news releases and op-ed articles and brochures, and was interviewed numerous times by television, newspaper and radio outlets. She organized the Safe Communities coalition into a large forum, and developed the Traffic Enforcement Task Force, comprised of all local law enforcement agencies, the Greenville County Sheriff’s Office, and the South Carolina Highway Patrol. She brought the Drug Recognition Expert program into South Carolina, where it is now taught by the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy. She developed a Victims Support Services committee, and organized a support group for loved ones of those killed by homicide or driving under the influence (DUI). She is the mother of one daughter, Connie.