J. R. Woodland |

01/11/2000
In the two years since Matt Shepard's murder roiled our national consciousness, the shock and the emotion that spurred a thousand candlelight vigils have ebbed, leaving a space for thoughtful reflection on the lasting meaning of this tragedy in our common life. One of those reflective events is "The Laramie Project," a theatrical meditation on the people of Laramie and how Shepard's death has affected them.
Those of us who can't get to New York City now have a similarly valuable reflective text in Beth Loffreda's thoughtful book, _Losing Matt Shepard: Life and Politics in the Aftermath of Anti-Gay Murder_. Loffreda writes from a unique perspective: she joined the faculty of the University of Wyoming just before Shepard's murder, and thus brings the insight of an outsider to her careful observations of the aftermath: the vigils, media coverage, and trials.
But most importantly, she brings us the voices of Laramie's residents, both those who knew Matt and those who grew to know his life after it ended. Her focus is not on the private details of Shepard's life, but how his life and death affected and illuminated the political and human landscapes of this Wyoming town. Avoiding easy answers, Loffreda keeps before us the complexities of the lives and communities she documents. With elegant and careful prose, she sets before us the scenes and testimonies she has gathered, reflecting on these events with a clarity that does not preclude passion.
In the end, Loffreda claims, the legacy of Matt Shepard (for those who did not know him personally, but were nonetheless affected by his death) is that he impelled such reflection and conversation: "When the town lost Matt, a stranger to most of its residents, it found someone to remember, and to remember turbulently, intimately, often unwillingly, and always with difficulty and disagreement. If Matt bequeathed Laramie anything, he bequeathed us the passion and necessity and freedom of dissent. And as the town continues to remember and forget, to speak the languages of tolerance and admonition both, we should all hold that inheritance close."
Those who look for ways to remember Matt Shepard and to deepen their understanding of the meaning(s) of his life and death would do well to begin with a careful reading of this thoughtful and caring book.