Helen Prejean her best-selling book, "Dead Man Walking" (1993), based on her experiences with two convicts on Death Row for whom she served as spiritual adviser before their executions. In her book, she explored the effects of the death penalty on everyone involved. The book was adapted as a 1995 film of the same name, starring Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn. It was also adapted as an opera, first produced in 2000 by the San Francisco Opera. Helen Prejean was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the daughter of Augusta Mae (née Bourg; 1911–1993), a nurse, and Louis Sebastian Prejean (1893–1974), a lawyer.
Helen Maria Chesnutt Helen Maria Chesnutt Helen Maria Chesnutt BA MA (December 6, 1880 - August 7, 1969) was an African American teacher of Latin and the author of an influential biography and Latin text book. Helen Maria Chesnutt was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina in 1880. Her parents were the African American author Charles Chesnutt, said to be the first important black American novelist, and Susan Perry. Helen Maria Chesnutt attended Smith College with her sister, Ethel, living off-campus as did Otelia Cromwell, the only other black student attending Smith College at this time. The Chesnutt sisters moved to four different addresses