Wow what a story this book offers a surprising view into the life of a complex woman who fought the death penalty in america marie deans work on behalf of prisoners is especially astounding in that her beloved mother in law had been murdered i was amazed by deans strength courage and commitment as she advocated for men on death row. Today americas death penalty seems to be in decline and america seems to be on the road to abolition but if we look back into the late twentieth century few could have foreseen such a possibility opposing the death penalty then was very much an uphill struggle a courageous fool offers a compelling account of that struggle it does so by telling the story of marie deans a little known but important foot soldier in the abolition movement. Download citation a courageous fool marie deans and her struggle against the death penalty there have been many heroes and victims in the battle to abolish the death penalty and marie deans . Today americas death penalty seems to be in decline and america seems to be on the road to abolition but if we look back into the late twentieth century few could have foreseen such a possibility opposing the death penalty then was very much an uphill struggle a courageous fool offers a compelling account of that struggle it does so by telling the story of marie deans a little known but important foot soldier in the abolition movement. There have been many heroes and victims in the battle to abolish the death penalty and marie deans fits into both of those categories a south carolina native who yearned to be a fiction writer marie was thrust by a combination of circumstances including the murder of her beloved mother in law into a world much stranger than fiction a world in which minorities and the poor were selected