If I Should Die [Paperback]

Jane Officer (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1873797222 | ISBN-13: 978-1873797228 | Publication Date: January 1, 1997

Cultural Writing. Memoir. These edited letters and diaries are a moving account of the unusual friendship between Andrew Lee Jones and Jane Officer. In July 1991 Andrew Lee Jones became the last person to die in "Old Sparky," Louisiana's electric chair. Over the preceding fifteen months, Andrew corresponded with Jane Officer, an English woman whom he met through a penfriend organization based in England. Andrew was 35, poor, black and a convicted criminal; his English friend was white, middle class and 55. She traveled to the USA for the first time in her life to plead for Andrew's life at a Pardon Board hearing, and spent his last few hours with him and his family.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jane Officer is Chairperson of the Andrew Lee Jones Fund, which awards scholarships to British and American law students who volunteer to work as interns for capital defence attorneys in the USA as part of their studies.

Product Details

• Paperback: 134 pages
• Publisher: New Clarion Press (January 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1873797222
• ISBN-13: 978-1873797228
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,883,508 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dead Man Writing, August 26, 2000

By 

Julian P Killingley - See all my reviews

This review is from: If I Should Die (Paperback)

This book is edited by Jane Officer and contains letters written by Andrew Lee Jones - the last man to die in Louisiana's electric chair. The book slowly reveals the character and thoughts of a young inmate waiting to die but hoping that his appeals will be successful. It is a one-sided correspondence because Jane Officer's letters to Andrew were lost around the time of his execution. However, we can easily deduce the nature of what she had written to Andrew from his comments on her letters.

One of the peculiar effects of the death penalty is to make those scheduled to die surprisingly articulate. Dr Johnson correctly observed that contemplation of one's death "composes a man's mind wonderfully". Despite his limited intelligence and rudimentary education, Andrew's letters to Jane set out the hopes and fears of a condemned man in a very direct and moving way.

They make an inlikely pair of correspondents - a widowed English grade school teacher and a poorly educated black boy from the bayou. Andrew's naive and dreamy view of England is sharp counterpoint to the harsh day-to-day reality of life on death row in Angola Prison.

As the end approaches, the reader would have to have a heart of stone not to find some compassion for Andrew as his hopes alternately are buoyed up only to be crushed as appeals are rejected and fresh execution dates set. This is a moving book and well worth reading for its inside view of what it is like to be warehoused for death.