'Dead Man Walking' author to talk at CLU

(THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Jan. 11, 2012) The Catholic nun whose relationship with a death row inmate was the basis for the movie "Dead Man Walking" will speak at California Lutheran University at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Sister Helen Prejean will present "Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues" in Samuelson Chapel.

Prejean, 72, has been instrumental in sparking national dialogue on the death penalty and helping to shape the Roman Catholic Church's newly vigorous opposition to state executions. The Louisiana native travels around the world giving talks about her ministry and considers herself a Southern storyteller.

As a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, a community of nuns, Prejean first taught religion to junior high school students. Realizing that being on the side of poor people is an essential part of the Gospel, she moved into the St. Thomas Housing Project in New Orleans and worked at Hope House from 1984 to 1986. During this time, she began corresponding with death row inmate Patrick Sonnier, who had been convicted of killing two teenagers, and became his spiritual adviser. After witnessing his execution, she wrote "Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States." It was nominated for a 1993 Pulitzer Prize, spent 31 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list and was translated into 10 languages.

The book was developed into a 1995 motion picture starring Sean Penn and Susan Sarandon as well as an opera and a play for high schools and colleges.

Prejean has continued to counsel death row prisoners while advocating for a moratorium on capital punishment. She has accompanied six men to their deaths. Suspicions that some of them were not guilty inspired her second book, "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions," which was released in 2004. She is currently working on her third book, "River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey."

Prejean earned a bachelor's degree in English and education from St. Mary's Dominican College in New Orleans and a master's degree in religious education from St. Paul's University in Ottawa, Canada.

CLU's Artists and Speakers Committee is sponsoring the free event. For more information, contact Amanda Whealon at awhealo@callutheran.edu or 805-493-3950.