Sarasota News Leader
October 4, 2013
Page 106
THE BOOK OF MATT AUTHOR TO PARTICIPATE IN COMMUNITY DISCUSSION
Stephen Jimenez, author of The Book of
Matt, will participate in a free community
discussion at 7 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 14, at
the Fogartyville Community Media and Arts
Center, 525 Kumquat Court, Sarasota.
His appearance is being sponsored by
Bookstore1Sarasota in partnership with
WSLR radio.
Late on the night of Oct. 6, 1998, Matthew
Shepard, a 21-year-old gay college student, left
a bar in Laramie, WY, with two alleged "strangers," a news release explains. "Eighteen hours
later, Matthew was found tied to a log fence
on the outskirts of town, unconscious and
barely alive," the release adds. "By the time
Matthew died a few days later, his name was
synonymous with anti-gay hate."
Stephen Jimenez/Image from www.
bookstore1sarasota.com
Jimenez went to Laramie in 2000 to research
the story of Matthew Shepard's murder, after
the two men convicted of killing Shepard had
gone to prison, the release continues. As a
gay man, Jimenez "felt a moral imperative to
tell Matthew's story," the release adds. "But
what Jimenez eventually found in Wyoming
was a tangled web of secrets."
The Book of Matt "is sure to stir passions
and inspire dialogue as it reframes this misconstrued crime and its cast of characters,
proving irrefutably that Matthew Shepard
was not killed for being gay but for reasons
far more complicated — and daunting," the
release points out.
For more event information, visit www.bookstore1sarasota.com. The book is on sale at
the store in downtown Sarasota. To reserve
a copy, call Bookstore1Sarasota at 365-7900.
T h e B o o k o f M a t t / I m a g e f r o m w w w.
bookstore1sarasota.com
