Collection:LPB

Genre: Interview

Place Covered: Louisiana

Copyright Holder: Louisiana Educational Television Authority

Date Issued: 1996-04-25

Duration: 00:25:33

Subjects: Prejean, Helen | NUNS | Authors | Capital Punishment | Religion | Catholic Church | VATICAN II COUNCIL | ANGOLA STATE PRISON | Louisiana State Penitentiary | Prisons | PRISONERS | Death row inmates | Dead man walking (Motion picture) | Crime

Contributors:

• Weill, Gus Host
• Fowler, Ken Producer
• Prejean, Helen Speaker

This episode of the series “Louisiana Legends” from April 25, 1996, features an interview with Sister Helen Prejean conducted by Gus Weill. Sister Prejean, a native of Baton Rouge, is a nun with the Congregation of St. Joseph, the author of “Dead Man Walking” and an advocate against the death penalty. She discusses: her childhood; taking on religious life; the importance of silence and meditation; life before Vatican II; the changes made by Vatican II; how she became involved with death row advocacy; her first visit to the Angola Prison and death row; the humanity of inmates; how she came to write “Dead Man Walking”; the movie adaptation of her book; the reasons for her opposition to the death penalty; alternatives to the death penalty; victims’ families; and her mission of spreading the realities of the death penalty.