Dead Man Walking
171512
225285778
2008-07-12T22:00:06Z
SmackBot
433328
Date the maintenance tags or general fixes
{{otheruses}}
{{TOC right}}
'''''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]].
==Background==
Prejean has become a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. Her campaign began in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1982, through a correspondence she maintained with two convicted murderers.
The first was [[Elmo Patrick Sonnier]], who was sentenced to death by electrocution. She visited Sonnier in prison and agreed to be his spiritual advisor in the months leading up to his death.
The second was [[Robert Lee Willie]], for whom she once again served as spiritual advisor.
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 counseling to the families of victims of violence.
==Name==
The title comes from the traditional call in the [[United States]] of "Dead man walking, dead man walking here" from a prison guard as a condemned prisoner is led onto [[Death Row]].{{Fact|date=June 2008}} The phrase may have originally come from the 1909 poem by [[Thomas Hardy]] titled ''The Dead Man Walking''.
One can question where Hardy heard it from, however, since there is no way to be sure that he coined the phrase. It was originally used to describe a person who was in trouble and about to get punished, or lose his job. This is what originally inspired prison guards to call out these words regarding a condemned man.{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
==Adaptations==
===Film===
{{main|Dead Man Walking (film)}}
In [[1995]], a film based on the book was made, starring [[Susan Sarandon]] and [[Sean Penn]].
===Opera===
{{Main|Dead Man Walking (opera)}}
It was also made into an [[Dead Man Walking (opera)|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|Dead Man Walking (play)}}
==References==
* [[Helen Prejean|Prejean, Helen]] (1993). ''Dead Man Walking''. Random House. ISBN 0-679-75131-9 (paperback)
==External links==
*[http://www.deadmanwalkingplay.org/ Dead Man Walking School Theatre Project]
*[http://www.deathpenaltydiscourse.org/ Death Penalty Discourse Center]
*[http://www.suzannevega.com/about/1996/prejean.htm Interview with Alan Moroney]
*[http://www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Apr1996/feature1.asp Sister Helen Prejean: The Real Woman Behind ''Dead Man Walking''] (from AmericanCatholic.org, April 1996)
*[http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/deadmanwalking/context.html Study Guide on ''Dead Man Walking'']
[[Category:1993 books]]
[[de:Dead Man Walking]]
[[ja:デッドマン・ウォーキング]]
[[pt:Dead Man Walking]]
[[sk:Mŕtvy muž prichádza]]
[[zh:死囚168小时]]