"Don Reid," a cub reporter once wrote admiringly, "can see as much humanity in the messy murder of a shady lady as the coronation of a queen . . . ." Reid was a strong but gentle man, wise and compassionate, and his discerning eyes observed all the degradation and nobility mankind is heir to in his thirty-five years of covering the Texas prison system for the Huntsville Item and the Associated Press. For many years he was publisher of the Item and later in his life spent much of his time writing and making public speeches. Reid, who died in 1981, was survived by his widow, Frances. The late John Gurwell, who assisted Reid with the book, was a Houston writer whose daughter Kathy supported the reprinting of this book.
"Have a Seat, Please is an in-depth and honest look inside the
Texas process of executions by Don Reid, who witnessed 189
electrocutions and during the process was transformed from an avid
supporter of capital punishment to an active and vocal opponent.
Reid takes the reader up-close and personal with his compelling
accounts of the condemned on death row and his eyewitness reports
of their horrific deaths. Just as captivating is his personal
journey of self-discovery as he carefully examines the very
emotional and highly debated issue of capital punishment. Although
the method of legalized homicide in Texas is different now, the
book is as valid today as it was 35 years ago."
--Jim Willet, retired warden, Walls Unit, Texas Department of
Criminal Justice
"It's been over twenty-five years since Don Reid visited a
philosophy class I was taking and talked about this book. Then I
read it. And its clear narrative voice and vivid description have
haunted me for this quarter century. I recently read it again, and
though Don is no longer with us, his story certainly is. It's as
rich and meaningful as ever."
--Ron Rozelle, author of Into That Good Night and The Windows of
Heaven
This is one of the most profound books written on the subject of
capital punishment that I have ever read. I say this without
hesitation, and I've read a lot about this subject. Don Reid takes
us on a journey that begins at a small-town newspaper in the Piney
Woods of East Texas and ends in the execution chamber of what has
become known as "the execution capital of the modem world." He
begins as a journalist assigned by the Dallas bureau of Associated
Press to cover a routine event in his hometown: the execution of a
man in the electric chair. He is told that all he is to do is
"report the times ... you know, when be goes in, and when he's
pronounced dead. ... Unless something unusual happens." Something
unusual does happen to Don in the early morning following his first
"witness" experience. A simple question sends Reid on a search that
takes him to the very place he's "covering" as a journalist: the
execution chamber just beyond the "green door" where he is invited
by the warden to "Have a seat, please." Join him on this voyage and
you will experience a change in your life forever."
--Dennis R. Longmire, Professor of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston
State University
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