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.
Erstwhile Susan other work has been lost except for a single reel from "First Love" (1921). Erstwhile Susan Erstwhile Susan is a 1919 American silent drama film directed by John S. Robertson, produced and distributed by Realart Pictures. It is based on a 1914 novel "Barnabetta" by Helen Reimensnyder Martin and later Broadway play "Erstwhile Susan" by Marian De Forest. Minnie Maddern Fiske starred in the Broadway play in 1916. This film version stars Mary Alden and Constance Binney, then an up-and-coming young actress. This film version, once thought to be lost, survives at the Museum of Modern Art. "Erstwhile Susan" was