Things I’ve Learned from Dying, by David R. Dow

Dow is a law professor and founder and director of the Texas Innocence Network. He has represented more than 100 death row inmates in their appeals at both the state and federal levels—and mostly lost in court. He became particularly attached to Eddie Waterman, whose story he tells here. Waterman was convicted of killing an 84-year-old woman. A friend had shot her first, and she was likely dead when Waterman fired the second shot. He reformed himself in prison and won the reluctant respect of some of the guards. While Dow was working to save Waterman, his beloved father-in-law was dying of cancer and he was attending to the ailing family dog. Though Dow is not a person of faith, his questions and reflections on life and death are ones everyone should consider.