To Be Among the Living: the Aftermath of Killing and Execution in the United States

When Carol McAlester, a good friend and warden, told me that carrying out the death penalty in the United States, killing people, was wearing her out, I was compelled to discover how she and her colleagues coped with such a gruesome responsibility. Although capital punishment may fade from American history, many whose lives it touched will live on. Therefore, I pursued an investigation that lead to interviews with corrections officials; offenders; attorneys; chaplains; and victims, those who?d had loved ones murdered and executed. Some of the individuals I met were slowly becoming stronger in what Ernest Hemingway called ?the broken places.? They and, vicariously, I re-discovered an old truth, that despite the pain suffering can inflict, it can bring to bear that life is short and feeling empathy for fellow human beings is rewarding.