"Until You Are Dead": Steven Truscott's Long Ride into History [Paperback]

Julian Sher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 13, 2002

FULLY REVISED AND UPDATED

National Bestseller
Winner of the Canadian Authors Association Birks Family Foundation Award for Biography
Finalist for the Writers’ Trust Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing

The investigation that helped Truscott get a new appeal.

In 1959, a popular schoolboy, just 14 years old, was convicted and sentenced to hang for the rape and murder of his 12-year-old classmate. That summer, Canada lost its innocence and the shocking story of Steven Truscott became imprinted on the nation’s memory. First published in 2001, “Until You Are Dead” revealed new witnesses, leads and evidence never presented to the courts. Now this national bestseller is fully revised and updated, and takes readers from that fateful night in 1959 up to the new appeal granted to Truscott in 2006. Julian Sher’s award-winning and insightful chronicle details Steven Truscott’s dramatic final battle – with the help of his family, investigative journalists and lawyers – to clear his name once and for all.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Before there was Donald Marshall, David Milgaard, Guy Paul Morin, Gregory Parsons or Thomas Sophonow, there was Stephen Truscott. Julian Sher . . . has uncovered new evidence and written a compelling story detailing how Truscott’s 1959 murder trial was horribly flawed.”
—The Vancouver Sun

“A chilling search for truth.”
—The Hamilton Spectator

“Passionate, thorough and highly readable . . . a weighty indictment of our criminal system, and the terrible results when it goes wrong.”
—The Record (Kitchener-Waterloo)

“Read this book. You will be jarred by the reality of our justice system. This excellent, in-depth compilation of Steven Truscott’s very disturbing case keeps you absorbed and in disbelief: Where is the justice?”
— Guy Paul Morin

"Sher writes with a finely measured sense of disbelief. How could this happen? he asks through every page. And we share his amazement, notwithstanding David Milgaard, Donald Marshall, Guy Paul Morin and Thomas Sophonow, all convicted until proven innocent ... Sher has written an important book. One that ought to serve as a warning to those who administer justice against arrogance. Nor should anyone be complacent on the issue, for every time a case is closed with the wrongly accused, a killer is left free to roam among us. "
— The Montreal Gazette, October 20, 2001

"The CBC television producer who earned Truscott's trust and helped make a national case of his continued claim of innocence, Montreal's Julian Sher, presents another compelling indictment of our justice system."
— The Toronto Star, October 21, 2001

"There have been previous books on the trial of Steven Truscott, but 'Until You Are Dead' ... is the most comprehensive analysis to date."
— The Globe and Mail

From the Inside Flap

With an update on Ottawa?s re-opening of the case.

In 1959, a popular schoolboy, just fourteen years old, was convicted and sentenced to hang for the rape and murder of his twelve-year-old classmate. That summer Canada lost its innocence and the shocking story of Steven Truscott became stamped in the nation?s memory. Having always maintained his innocence, this is the true account of what happened, how Steven grew to adulthood in prison and lived anonymously ever since?until now.

In the fall of 2001, Truscott?s lawyers presented a 700-page brief to the federal justice minister. Early in 2002, Ottawa decided to re-open the case, naming a retired judge to investigate. The updated paperback recounts this historic triumph.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 592 pages
• Publisher: Vintage Canada; First Printing edition (August 13, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0676973817
• ISBN-13: 978-0676973815
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #396,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Heart Wrenching Account of a True Story, May 22, 2004

By 

"ethabillcrane" (Yarmouth Co, Nova Scotia Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: "Until You Are Dead": Steven Truscott's Long Ride into History (Paperback)

"Until You Are Dead" is a journalistic masterpeice. Julian Sher sets out to uncover the truth about one of Canada's most contraversial criminal cases. What he finds is a shocking story of haw one boy slipped through the cracks in the legal system and almost lost his life as a result. In this case, the facts arre far more astonishing, and appalling, than fiction.

5.0 out of 5 stars most excellent, June 12, 2011

By 

pismodee - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: "Until You Are Dead": Steven Truscott's Long Ride into History (Paperback)

This book his incredible. And I have the good fortune to know the strong, wonderful man/family this story is written about. I had my copy signed! Good job and thanks for getting to me so timely

5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I'd read this years ago, May 23, 2009

By 

Catherine Astolfo "Emily Taylor Mystery Author" (Brampton, ON, CANADA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: "Until You Are Dead": Steven Truscott's Long Ride into History (Paperback)

I devoured this book! Sad, tragic, unforgivable - a terrible piece of our Canadian history. I remember the story from my own childhood, as I am only slightly younger than Steven Truscott. But reading his tale had a huge impact on me. I am a mystery writer, writing about a character who is wrongfully convicted of murder. This book gave me the insight into the emotional scars that such an event leaves behind on absolutely everyone.