Sister Helen Prejean to Speak at Santa Catalina School

Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun well known for her activism against the death penalty, will talk about the experiences that inspired her to write " Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States" during a presentation at Santa Catalina school on Thursday, March 20 from 7:00 - 9:00 pm. The presentation will take place at the school's performing arts center on 1500 Mark Thomas Drive in Monterey.

Prejean will also discuss her second book "The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions." The event will also include a question and answer session with Prejean.

Prejean has been at the forefront of the anti-death-penalty movement in the U.S. for several decades. During the 1980s, she worked at the St. Thomas Housing Project and the Hope House in New Orleans and was asked to correspond with Patrick Sonnier, a death-row inmate in a Louisiana state prison. She agreed and became his spiritual advisor. After witnessing Sonnier's execution, she wrote "Dead Man Walking," detailing the experience. Since then she has accompanied six men to their deaths and now divides her time educating citizens about the death penalty and counseling death-row prisoners and the families of murder victims. She is currently working on her third book, "River of Fire: My Spiritual Journey."

This event is free and open to the public. To attend RSVP at santacatalina.org/Prejean. For more information please contact the Santa Catalina Upper School Office at 655-9300.