Things I've Learned from Dying

Starred review from November 4, 2013
Lawyer Dow (Autobiography of an Execution) eloquently draws us into this gracefully told memoir about his angry and painful struggles to sort out the lessons that death teaches us about living. During the time that Dow is preparing appeals for Waterman, a death row inmate, his father-in-law is diagnosed with cancer, and his family’s beloved dog is found to have an inoperable and ultimately fatal liver tumor. An engaging storyteller, Dow weaves elegantly each person’s story into a colorful and emotionally wrenching narrative that covers his fiercely honest struggle to make sense of life and death. Early on, his father-in-law reflects on the career of his cancer: “The problem is the emotional change the physical pain has caused, and it is too late to do anything about that change.” After an especially trying day working on the Waterman case, Dow expresses his frustrations with the system: “People who think bogus legal proceedings happen only in places like Iran or China apparently have not been to Texas… Anybody who tells you the criminal justice system is an even playing field has no idea what she’s talking about.” Dow’s moving tale leaves us with a tough questions: “Which is better: to be able to circle the date on a calendar five years from today when your life will end? Or to get flattened by a truck crossing the street and never see it coming?” Agent, Simon Lipskar, Writers House.

November 15, 2013
A memoir examining the complicated nature of death. Although death-row defense lawyer Dow (Houston Law Center; The Autobiography of an Execution, 2011) is no stranger to the throes of death, when the Grim Reaper knocked on his own family's door, the reality of the situation hit much harder. Thoughtful and full of a pensive sadness, the author intertwines the difficulties of his work, of trying to save a model inmate destined for execution, with reflections, memories and conversations with his dying father-in-law and the painful process of watching his beloved dog, Winona, die. "Time does not heal all wounds," writes the author. "Some pain becomes part of who you are." His pain, born of a profound love for his family and pet, cascaded over into Dow's work, where the need to save a life, regardless of the crime committed, has forced him to try any measure to stay the execution. Meanwhile, his father-in-law struggled with the physical and emotional realities of suffering from a terminal disease and the desire to live life in his own way while trying to juggle the needs of a devoted wife and daughter. The final piece to the triplet of death fell into place when the elderly Winona suffered acute liver failure. The pace of the writing is slow and steady, inexorably moving toward predetermined and unavoidable conclusions. No amount of heroics on the parts of Dow to save the inmate, the doctors to save his father-in-law and friend, or the vet to help the dog can change the outcomes. Hope, love, anger, guilt and despair are some of the emotional waves the author faces head-on and presents to readers in a moving testimony to the will to live. "Our lives end before others notice," writes Dow, "and the time that spans the distance is the inverse of the grief your loved ones will suffer when you leave them behind." Sad and inspiring reflections of what it means to live, love and die.

COPYRIGHT(2013) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

August 1, 2013

Founder and director of the Texas Innocence Network, Dow has represented more than 100 death row inmates in their state and federal appeals, an experience he articulated with quiet, bracing passion in his award-winning The Autobiography of an Execution. In this more personal book, Dow discusses the impact of death on a family and reconciling to loss after his father-in-law and his beloved dog Winona are both diagnosed with terminal illnesses. With a 50,000-copy first printing.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.