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.BackgroundShe has become a leading American advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. Her campaign began in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1981, 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 spi