"Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues" Sister Helen Prejean February 25, 2008 Memorial Hall
Prejean’s talk, “Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues,” concerned her second book, inspired by her work with death row inmates she came to believe were innocent. The book, The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions, was UNC’s summer reading program selection for 2007.
Prejean’s first book, Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States, was made into a 1995 movie starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon. Nominated for multiple Academy and Golden Globe awards, the film won Sarandon a Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Prejean. UNC’s dramatic arts department will perform a stage version of “Dead Man Walking” April 18-22.
Prejean, of New Orleans, was instrumental in sparking national dialogue about the death penalty and shaping the Catholic Church’s newly vigorous opposition to all state executions. Since 1984, she has divided her time between campaigning against the death penalty and counseling individual death row prisoners. She is a regular contributor to national and international publications and major television news shows. She holds degrees in English and religious education and has received honorary degrees from universities worldwide, as well as numerous awards.
She works with the Death Penalty Discourse Center, the Moratorium Campaign and the Dead Man Walking Play Project and is at work on a new book: “River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey to Death Row.”
The Hillard Gold ’39 Lecture series was established by Carolina alumni James and Jonathan Gold as a memorial to their father and his commitment to liberal arts education. The 2007-2008 Hillard Gold ’39 Lecture is sponsored by Carolina Performing Arts and the James M. Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence in the College of Arts and Sciences.
