Elmo Patrick Sonnier illness, at Louisiana State Prison . He is buried in the prison cemetery. Sister Helen Prejean published a book, "Dead Man Walking" (1993), about her relationship with Elmo Sonnier and Robert Lee Willie, another inmate on Death Row whom she counseled. The book was adapted as a 1995 film of the same name directed by Tim Robbins and starring Susan Sarandon as Sister Prejean and Sean Penn as Matthew Poncelett, an amalgam of Sonnier and Willie. Her book was also adapted as an opera of the same name, first produced in 2000 by the San Francisco Opera. Elmo Patrick Sonnier
Susan Isaacs books and screenplays, Isaacs has reviewed fiction and nonfiction for "The New York Times", the "Los Angeles Times", "The Washington Post", and "Newsday". She belongs to the National Book Critics Circle. Isaacs has written about politics, including a series of essays on the 2000 presidential campaign for "Newsday". She has also authored op-eds and articles on feminism, film, and First Amendment issues. In 1985, Isaacs adapted her own novel for the screenplay of the Paramount film "Compromising Positions", which starred Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia. She wrote and co-produced Touchstone Pictures’ "Hello Again", a 1987 comedy starring Shelley Long, Gabriel