 In his memoir recounted to his son Rich in the 1980s (Rusk had gone blind by that point), he described a youth spent in "hardscrabble farming" as none of the families in Cherokee County had any modern amenities such as running water, central heating, indoor plumbing or electricity and where diseases were a constant threat.Rusk's sister recalled that when the family killed a pig, they "ate everything but the squeal" while Rusk himself noted that "the Rusks who stayed in Cherokee County were eventually spewed out by this unforgiving land".Clean drinking water was a rarity in Cherokee County while milk was a luxury, and as a result the young Rusk suffered from constant dental pain.