Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking is a work of non-fiction by Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun and one of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of Medaille. She has become a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. Her crusade began in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1981, through a correspondence she maintained with a convicted murderer, Patrick Sonnier, who was sentenced to death by electrocution. She visited Sonnier in prison and agreed to be his spiritual adviser in the months leading up to his death. The experience gave Prejean greater insight into the process involved in executions and she began speaking out against capital punishment. At the same time, she also founded Survive, an organization devoted to providing counselling to the families of victims of violence. The title comes from the traditional call of "Dead man walking, dead man walking here!" from a prison guard as a condemned prisoner is led onto Death Row.

Adaptations

Film

Main article: Dead Man Walking (film)

In 1995 a film based on the book was made, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn.

Opera

Main article: Dead Man Walking (opera)

It was also made into an opera with the same name, composed by Jake Heggie from a libretto by Terrence McNally which premiered at the San Francisco Opera in October 2000. The international premiere of the opera was in January 2006, at the Calgary Opera in Calgary, Canada.

Stage version of the book/film

Main article: Dead Man Walking (play)

Reference

• Prejean, Helen (1993). Dead Man Walking. Random House. ISBN 0-679-75131-9 (paperback)

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