Journalist and television producer Steve Jimenez participated in the Iowa City Book Festival in 2013, reading from and discussing his book, The Book of Matt: Hidden Truths About the Murder of Matthew Shepard. Shepard, who was gay, was murdered in 1998 in Laramie, Wyoming. His story is known to many through the play The Laramie Project, though Jimenez’ account takes a much different approach to the investigation.
In this On the Fly interview, Jimenez discusses what drew him to this story. He says, “In general, the complexities of the story, the complexities of the human beings that lived it, that’s what drew me in.” He reveals many of the challenges he has faced in his lengthy journalistic investigation of the murder.
He comments on his efforts to “pull back on editorializing…letting the story speak for itself.” He also speaks of his love of screenwriting and the ways in which writing nonfiction books and for the screen differ.
The interview closes with Jimenez reading from The Book of Matt.
