{"product_id":"the-whole-world-was-watching-living-in-the-light-of-matthew-shepard","title":"The Whole World Was Watching: Living in the Light of Matthew Shepard","description":"\u003cp\u003eOn the evening of Thursday  October 8  1998  20-year-old Romaine Patterson received a phone call that her best friend  Matthew Shepard  had been beaten and left hanging on a split-rail fence outside Laramie  Wyo. Patterson was then thrust into the center of the worldwide media frenzy that descended on Laramie  and she came face-to-face with homophobic backlash when Baptist minister Fred Phelps and his followers picketed Shepards funeral with signs reading Matt in Hell. Upon learning of Phelpss plan to take his ministry of hate to support Shepards killers at their trial  Patterson went into action. Who can forget the image of Patterson and her friends donning seven-foot angel wings so they could encircle Phelps and his gang  leaving the picketers silent and invisible? From that moment forward  Patterson has become a spokesperson for tolerance  acceptance  and nonviolence around the globe  whether as a founder of Angel Action  as a consultant for The Laramie Project (the award-winning play that has been produced hundreds of times and became an acclaimed Showtime film starring Christina Ricci as Patterson)  or as cohost of the successful Sirius Satellite Radio show Derek \u0026amp; Romaine. In one of their last conversations  Shepard told Patterson that he wanted to spend his life helping people realize that they  as individuals  could make a difference in the world. This book is Romaine Pattersons journey to realizing the truth of that statement.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44962853486645,"sku":"ByrdShop_1555839010","price":34.64,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781555839017.jpg?v=1770398645","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-whole-world-was-watching-living-in-the-light-of-matthew-shepard","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}