Cazenovia College’s Reisman Lecture Series will present Sister Helen Prejean, author of “Dead Man Walking,” at 7 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 20, at St. James Church in Cazenovia.  Sr. Prejean’s lecture, “Dead Man Walking: The Journey Continues,” tells of her life and work following her experiences with counseling prison inmates facing the death penalty.

Seating is limited. Tickets are required for admittance, and will be offered on a first-come, first-served basis, with a maximum of four tickets per request. Please contact Sylvia Needel at 315-655-7261, or e-mail sneedel@cazenovia.edu, with name, mailing address and desired number of tickets.  Deadline to request tickets: Sept. 14.  For more information, visit www.cazenovia.edu/ReismanLectures, and www.prejean.org/.

Sr. Helen Prejean sparked national dialogue on the death penalty, and helped shape the Catholic Church’s opposition to state executions. As a member of the Congregation of St. Joseph, she taught religion to junior high school students. Eventually she moved into the St. Thomas Housing Project in New Orleans to work at Hope House.

She became the spiritual advisor of a death row inmate at Angola prison, and after witnessing his execution wrote “Dead Man Walking: an Eyewitness Account of the Death Penalty in the United States.”

The play based on her book will be staged at the Catherine Cummings Theatre later this fall.

Sr. Helen’s second book, “The Death of Innocents: An Eyewitness Account of Wrongful Executions,”  sparked her current mission, the Catholic Mobilizing Network to End Use of the Death Penalty and Promote Restorative Justice, which is sponsored by the Congregation of St. Joseph’s Ministry Against the Death Penalty.  The group is dedicated to developing communication, education and action on all levels regarding the death penalty, victims’ families and restorative justice.

The Reisman Lecture Series, a three-year-long series to be presented each fall and spring at Cazenovia College, will feature thoughtful discourse on topics surrounding contemporary societal issues, by authors and scholars, leading public figures, and experts from business and the professions.  The Reisman Lecture Series is funded through a gift from The Dorothy and Marshall M. Reisman Foundation.