{"product_id":"he-called-me-sister-a-true-story-of-finding-humanity-on-death-row-9781640655959","title":"He Called Me Sister: A True Story of Finding","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDeeply poignant and astonishingly personal, this “moving story of a death in Tennessee” (Bill Moyers) shows hope can endure, grace can redeem, and humanity can exist—even in the darkest of places\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt was a clash of race, privilege, and circumstance when Alan Robertson first signed up through a church program to visit Cecil Johnson on Death Row, to offer friendship and compassion. Alan's wife Suzanne had no intention of being involved, but slowly, through phone calls and letters, she began to empathize and understand him. That Cecil and Suzanne eventually became such close friends—a white middle-class woman and a Black man who grew up devoid of advantage—is a testament to perseverance, forgiveness, and love, but also to the notion that differences don’t have to be barriers.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis book recounts a fifteen-year friendship and how trust and compassion were forged despite the difficult circumstances, and how Cecil ended up ministering more to Suzanne’s family than they did to him. The story details how Cecil maintained inexplicable joy and hope despite the tragic events of his life and how Suzanne, Alan, and their two daughters opened their hearts to a man convicted of murder. Cecil Johnson was executed Dec. 2, 2009.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This is Suzanne Craig Robertson’s moving story of a death in Tennessee. While disquieting and troubling, the story is gracefully intimate, respectful of all parties, tender and moving. She subtly honors the emotions inevitable in a story of innocence and guilt; of our collectively taking a life; of race and politics, right and wrong, and of wrestling with questions haunted by biblical memories that we confront every day.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—Bill Moyers\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“. . . \u003cem\u003eHe Called Me Sister\u003c\/em\u003e is more than a heartwarming portrait of an unlikely friendship, a model of successful lay ministry, and an illustration of problems with the death penalty that will speak to Christians across the political spectrum. It’s also a testimony, in the sense that it accomplishes what it portrays: a change of heart.”\u003cstrong\u003e—\u003cem\u003eChristian Century\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Here’s the truth: I choked up on the dedication page of this book and now, weeks later, I am still tearing up at random moments, still thinking about this incredibly moving story. Suzanne Robertson takes us with her and her family on a journey to a place that few of us want to see or understand better—but, for the sake of our humanity and community, desperately need to: Death Row. We are introduced to an inmate, Cecil Johnson, who is also a poet, a cook, a football fan, a once-neglected child, a family member, a friend, and a man for whom the justice system did not work as it should. To my amazement, the author gives us moments to laugh on this journey, moments of wonder and even beauty—as well as plenty of moments to weep. \u003cem\u003eHe Called Me Sister\u003c\/em\u003e is a story of becoming family with someone whose life experiences could not be more different, a tale of tragedy and mishandled evidence and crushed dreams—but also of authentic connection and goodness and hope. He Called Me Sister is a must read for all those who are pro-death penalty, all those who are anti-death penalty and, truly, everyone in between.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—Joy Jordan-Lake, bestselling author of \u003cem\u003eA Tangled Mercy\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eWhy Jesus Makes Me Nervous\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"In this carefully reported, heartrending story of her family’s personal relationship with a Death Row prisoner, Suzanne Craig Robertson interrogates the justice system’s deep inequities, as well as her own journey from trusting in the system to seeing it for what it is—human-made, biased, and deeply flawed. \u003cem\u003eHe Called Me Sister\u003c\/em\u003e is a captivating story of the power of showing up for one another, of choosing to be in community even in the face of ultimate unknowns.\" \u003cstrong\u003e—Erin Keane, author of \u003cem\u003eRunaway: Notes of the Myths that Made Me\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"Pregnant with a sense of tragedy and wrestling with what could have been, \u003cem\u003eHe Called Me Sister\u003c\/em\u003e is a touching memoir about how faith and love reached beyond prison bars.\"\u003c\/strong\u003e—\u003cstrong\u003e{::}\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cem\u003eForeword Review\u003c\/em\u003e**\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTable of Contents\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eForeword by Sister Helen Prejean \u003cbr\u003ePreface by Bill Moyers \u003cbr\u003ePrologue: A Long Way from Home for All of Us \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART ONE: FAMILY \u003cbr\u003eChapter One: It Started with a Phone Call . . . and Poetry \u003cbr\u003eChapter Two: From the Back of the Courtroom \u003cbr\u003eChapter Three: Daddies and Daughters . . . and a Personal Shopper \u003cbr\u003eChapter Four: His Own Safety Net \u003cbr\u003eChapter Five: Life in the Big City Chapter Six: Guilt (Mine) \u003cbr\u003eChapter Seven: The Definition of Family \u003cbr\u003eChapter Eight: The Cracks in Our Walls \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePART TWO: THE NIGHTMARE \u003cbr\u003eChapter Nine: Surprise! We Should’ve Been Paying Attention \u003cbr\u003eChapter Ten: “What a Family Is Suppose to Feel Like” \u003cbr\u003eChapter Eleven: Connecting with Another Execution \u003cbr\u003eChapter Twelve: Tick Tock \u003cbr\u003eChapter Thirteen: Friends in High Places \u003cbr\u003eChapter Fourteen: Protestors \u003cbr\u003eChapter Fifteen: We Didn’t Think They Would Really Kill Him \u003cbr\u003eChapter Sixteen: They Showed Up \u003cbr\u003eChapter Seventeen: Deciding Which Lives Are Worth Sparing \u003cbr\u003eChapter Eighteen: It Was Time We Knew \u003cbr\u003eChapter Nineteen: More Puzzle Pieces \u003cbr\u003eChapter Twenty: Thou Shall Not Kill—No Asterisk \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments \u003cbr\u003eNotes \u003cbr\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Church Publishing Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51359860064599,"sku":"9781640655959","price":19.79,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781640655959.jpg?v=1754125929","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/he-called-me-sister-a-true-story-of-finding-humanity-on-death-row-9781640655959","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}