The Meaning of Matthew: My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed [Hardcover]

Judy Shepard (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 3, 2009

The mother of Matthew Shepard shares her story about her son's death and the choice she made to become an international gay rights activist

Today, the name Matthew Shepard is synonymous with gay rights, but before his grisly murder in 1998, Matthew was simply Judy Shepard's son. For the first time in book form, Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, sharing memories of Matthew, their life as a typical American family, and the pivotal event in the small college town that changed everything.

The Meaning of Matthew follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime, when Judy and her husband traveled to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the incredible response from strangers all across America who held candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and finally, how they struggled to navigate the legal system as Matthew's murderers were on trial. Heart-wrenchingly honest, Judy Shepard confides with readers about how she handled the crippling loss of her child, why she became a gay rights activist, and the challenges and rewards of raising a gay child in America today.

The Meaning of Matthew not only captures the historical significance and complicated civil rights issues surrounding one young man's life and death, but it also chronicles one ordinary woman's struggle to cope with the unthinkable.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Judy Shepard is cofounder of the Matthew Shepard Foundation, which is dedicated to social justice, diversity awareness and education, and equality for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people. Shepard speaks across the country on behalf of the foundation. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From AudioFile

The brutal murder of Matthew Shepard in 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming, brought violence based on sexual orientation to public view. His mother, determined that Matthew's life should have meaning, has become an activist for the inclusion of sexual orientation in hate crime legislation (the federal act, named for Matthew, was enacted in October 2009) and for gay rights in general. Judy Shepard's narration is consistent with her statements in the book that in various public situations she is determined not to break down--as she wants the focus of the story to be Matthew, not her. Matthew's father delivers the statement he made at the trial of one of the assailants. Both parents read in tightly controlled voices that are poignant and, by the absence of dramatization, tell a haunting story. J.E.M. © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Hudson Street Press (September 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1594630577
• ISBN-13: 978-1594630576
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (64 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #315,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > Gay & Lesbian > Nonfiction > Civil Rights

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 58 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars From humble beginnings..... September 5, 2009

By James Hiller TOP 1000 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

... to a world known icon, Judy Shepard has become synonymous with words like activist, equal rights, and legacy. There are many of us who idolize this woman, and even, dare I say, put her on a pedestal for her endless work in this area. However, the Judy Shepard in her new book, "The Meaning of Matthew" My Son's Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed", is a simple mother, telling the wonderful story of her son's life, and the journeyhis death set her on afterwards.

One of the marvelous surprises in this book of surprises is Judy's humbleness and straightforwardness. Coming from the west, growing up in Wyoming herself, Judy has an understanding of the land and the people there that permeates this wonderful book. She met and married her husband Dennis, and then proceeded to have Matthew, which turned out to be a complicated birth and early few weeks of life. Throughout this book, Judy shares little stories and insights into Matthew's character that truly humanize this now civil rights icon. This is a mother, writing about her son, with love.

But it's honest. Judy doesn't hold back, when recounting her first suspicions about her son's homosexuality, when recounting some of his faults and foibles, and her own doubts as a mother. Somehow, throughout the book, she manages to maintain her composure, even when getting to the fateful, horrible nights and lingering days while Matthew barely clung to life. Read those chapters with Kleenex nearby. Even the hardest hearted of us will be fighting back tears.

However, I must say, I don't feel for a second that Judy wants us to feel sorry for her, or slip into a maudlin remembrance of her son. I truly believe, as the book wraps up for us, that she is ultimately inspiring us to action.... This book serves as a clarion call for those who wish for others to do the difficult work of equal rights to wake up and get involved; even in little ways, the littlest act can and does make a difference.

From humble beginnings as a wife and mother, to world known activist, you leave the book admiring her and her family for the work they've done to make this world as better place for everyone. But in reality, this marvelous read is a mother's memories of her son, and this book serves as a monument to this boy, whom the country never met, but now knows well.

Thank you Judy. Read more ›

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars UNBELIEVABLY MOVING AND BEAUTIFUL September 7, 2009

By Evan Evans

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

What an incredible (true) story about all of us in the U.S.A. and around the world, of a beautiful (inwardly and outwardly) young AMERICAN man, and his most remarkable mother! One of the most inspiring books I have ever read. If Congress does not again get around to putting into law The Matthew Sheppard Hate Crimes Bill, then we remain, as a country, deeply ashamed, as hatred still trumps love and acceptance of ALL Americans.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars "All of Us are Part of the Same Family: Humanity" September 11, 2009

By Eileen Granfors TOP 500 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

"The Meaning of Matthew" by Judy Shepard sheds light on the life of Matt, killed in Laramie, Wyoming, murdered by two men for no other reason than a botched robbery ($20.00) and a gay victim.

Shepard, the mother of Matt, strives throughout the book to keep her emotions in check, to tell the story of Matt before his murder, the son she loved. Matt was funny, kind, and open to the wonders of the world. Matt became depressed, angry, alcoholic, and confused as he encountered a world that did not accept him as a gay man.

The murder and subsequent trial sparked protests against hate crimes. Yet there were also those who defamed the victim, using his funeral as a place to spew their messages of hate, that Matt would rot in hell, that Matt was the devil's spawn. The "Reverend" Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church used the funeral and the trial to promote their hate-mongering, leaving the grieving family in more pain.

Judy Shepard has become a spokesperson for the LGBT community. This book will help to enlighten those who wish to learn more about how to bring civility into a dark world. I would have liked to feel more connected to the writer, but I understand her need to control her emotions, to keep a grip over the narrative, because how else can a parent move on when a child has been tortured and murdered?

"The Laramie Project" is also the story of Matt, with a far deeper emotional impact. I recommend Shepard's book for the facts and the understanding of a family under assault by the press and those who feel they have a duty to tell others how to live.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A World Transformed September 18, 2009

By Kevin Killian HALL OF FAME

Format:Hardcover

He was very small, looked like he was 13 or 14, and when 18 year old Aaron Kreifels saw his body propped up against a fence, his mountain bike skidded across the road for it looked like a scarecrow, a "Halloween guy," Kreifels remembered. A tiny body, but soaked in blood, most of it under his head. By this time Matthew Shepard had been hung on that fence for nearly eighteen hours, his lungs gradually pooling with blood. How any mother could cope with the Laramie police findings I don't know, but it was up to Judy Shepard to take it all in without fainting, and she has written a book to try to find the meaning of Matthew--the meaning of his death, but also the meaning of his life, how did this all come to happen.

It is a disturbing and chilling account, but it's human. We come to wonder about the killers and their girlfriends and their families, and how drugs and poverty have chipped away at their moral sense. One of the killers robbed a Keuntucky Fried Chicken of $2,500.00 (and "some desserts," adds Mrs. Shepard) and hid away in Florida to avoid the heat, then sneaked back when he thought it would be OK. Judy Shepard isn't what you'd call a natural writer, but she has given us something of a different order, the thoughts and feelings of a person devastated, and on top of it a person strong enough to pick up the pieces and do something that will mean something.

There's always a through-line of something resembling guilt giving her narrative an edge of real feeling and conflicting pressures. The book opens up that way, herself living with her husband in the Middle East--so far away from Laramie that it takes her days to get back to her son's bedside.... There was the puzzling and horrifying earlier incident when Matt was assaulted by several men in North Africa--again she asks herself, where was she? Matt was complicated, too, and like a bird he couldn't be contained by parental worry. He had to do what he wanted to do, and he had to go where he wanted to go. In that one way, he was just like his mother. Read more ›