Join us for a compelling opportunity to talk with Dan Slepian, author of the Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice. Books are available at the library, reserved specifically for this discussion. Call 315-841-4651 to place a hold on your copy or email
d2F0ZXJ2aWxsZSB8IG1pZHlvcmsgISBvcmc=
From the Book Club Kit:
The goal of the Sing Sing Speaks book club is to create a space for profound conversations and to connect readers with Dan Slepian,a longtime NBC producer and author of the book The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice. Through virtual gatherings with Dan and an exoneree, this book club fosters a community motivated by stories of resilience in the face of injustice.
Book Synopsis:
In 2002, Dan Slepian, a veteran producer for NBC's Dateline, received a tip from a Bronx homicide detective that two men were serving twenty-five years to life in prison for a 1990 murder they did not commit.
Haunted by what the detective told him, Slepian began an investigation of the case that eventually resulted in freedom for the two men and launched Slepian on a two-decade personal and professional journey into a deeply flawed justice system fiercely resistant to rectifying- or even acknowledging- its mistakes and their consequences.
The Sing Sing Files: One Journalist, Six Innocent Men, and a Twenty-Year Fight for Justice is Slepian’s account of challenging that system. The story follows Slepian on years of prison visits, court hearings, and street reporting that led to a series of powerful Dateline episodes and eventually to freedom for four other men and to an especially deep and lasting friendship with one of them, Jon-Adrian “JJ” Velazquez. From his cell in Sing Sing, JJ aided Slepian in his investigations until his own release in 2021 after decades in prison.
Like Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy, The Sing Sing Files is a deeply personal account of wrongful imprisonment and the flaws in our justice system, and a powerful argument for reckoning and accountability. Slepian’s extraordinary book, at once painful and full of hope, shines a light on an injustice whose impact the nation has only begun to confront.
You may also like the following events from Waterville Public Library:
Also check out other
Arts events in Waterville,
Literary Art events in Waterville.
