Mary Fox columns inspire 'Who's Who in America' editors to contact Capt. Tom Walker

Bucyrus police Capt. Tom Walker admits that when he first was contacted by someone who wanted to include him in Who's Who in America, he was "very, very suspicious."

"As a matter of fact, I was so suspicious that I actually reached out to them to find out if this was true," Walker said.

It was.

Walker, the department's public information officer, announced Thursday that he has been named as a biographical inductee for the Marquis Who's Who in America.

"It was quite the honor," he said. "I was very humbled by it."

In July, longtime Telegraph-Forum columnist Mary Fox wrote about Walker in a two-part "It Happened in Crawford County" article that talked about his life, family, faith, and career.

Shortly after that, he received a letter from Marquis Who’s Who, based in Uniondale, New York, informing him Fox's articles had caught their staff’s attention, according to a police department news release. Company representatives indicated that Walker was a biographical candidate for their publication and requested permission to research his life.

"It concerned me at first, because there's so many scams out there, but it actually turned out to be true," Walker said. "I spoke with the editors and it was pretty interesting."

In early October, Walker took part in what he referred to as, “a cordial and professional phone interview,” with a Marquis editor, after which he was told he’d been accepted as a Marquis Who’s Who inductee.

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"It took some time to go through the vetting process, which I would expect if they're going to do a biographical feature on you," he said.

His biographical information soon will be available online at Marquis Who’s Who.

“I have Mary Fox to thank for this honor,” Walker said in the news release. “I’m truly humbled by Mary’s and Marquis’ interests in my story.”

Fox said she welcomed the opportunity to share Walker's story, according to the news release. “He has faced so many obstacles in his life, but he has continually strived to achieve his many goals," she said. "It’s little wonder that Capt. Tom has been selected for Who's Who in America."

Walker plans to tell his own story, too. He's in the process of publishing a book about trauma, faith, and how the love of Jesus Christ changed his life.

"It's in the final stages of editing to move toward publishing," he said.

He's self-publishing the book through Christian Faith Publishing, which is based in Meadville, Pennsylvania. Walker said he hopes to have the book ready for release in the late summer or fall of 2023.

According to Marquis, factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility and prominence in a field are all considered during the selection process. The first edition of Who's Who in America was published by Albert Nelson Marquis in 1899.

"I have to be quite honest with you; I've heard of it, but I had never expected to be a part of that," Walker said. "I thought it was people like Warren Buffet or Oprah Winfrey or people like that, who were quite wealthy and quite prominent. But apparently that's not so."

ggoble@gannett.com

419-559-7263

This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Bucyrus police Capt. Tom Walker added to Marquis Who's Who in America