The best known anti-gay hate crime in history, the murder of Matthew Shepherd, and its still reverberating after-effects, get wholly addressed in THE MEANING OF MATTHEW. Unflichingly, Judy Shepherd, his mother, looks at and presents to us the fact that before Matthew Shepherd was an icon, he was, like Pinocchio before him, a real boy.

Ms. Shepard shares her story about her son's death and the choice she made to become an international gay rights activist.

For the first time in book form, Judy Shepard speaks about her loss, sharing memories of Matthew, their life as a typical American family, and the pivotal event in the small college town that changed everything. THE MEANING OF MATTHEW follows the Shepard family in the days immediately after the crime, when Judy and her husband traveled to see their incapacitated son, kept alive by life support machines; how the Shepards learned of the incredible response from strangers all across America who held candlelit vigils and memorial services for their child; and finally, how they struggled to navigate the legal system as Matthew's murderers were on trial. Heart-wrenchingly honest, Judy Shepard confides with readers about how she handled the crippling loss of her child, why she became a gay rights activist, and the challenges and rewards of raising a gay child in America today.

THE MEANING OF MATTHEW not only captures the historical significance and complicated civil rights issues surrounding one young man's life and death, but it also chronicles one ordinary woman's struggle to cope with the unthinkable.