About Dead Man Talking: The Execution of Gary Gilmore

January 2017 marks the 40th anniversary of the historic execution of Gary Gilmore, which re-instated the death penalty in the United States after a ten-year moratorium. When Utah authorities literally pulled the trigger to end Gilmore’s life, they did more than just end the existence of a crazed killer — they opened the floodgates of what is today’s version of capital punishment in the United States. Since 1977 over 1,000 state sponsored executions have taken place in the United States.  Lawrence Schiller, who did much of the legwork, interviews, and research for the Pulitzer prize and Emmy winning Executioner’s Song, outmaneuvered numerous other reporters to gain exclusive access to the book’s subject, Gary Gilmore, and went on to produce and direct the award-winning television miniseries based upon it, starring Tommy Lee Jones.