by Jeff Hobbs
First published 2014
Robert Peace grew up in East Orange outside Newark, in a neighborhood locals called "Illtown." His mother worked kitchen jobs to support them. His father went to prison for double murder. Despite these circumstances, Peace's intelligence earned him a scholarship to Yale, where he studied molecular biophysics and biochemistry. At college, he moved between two worlds without fully belonging to either. He kept his street connections while excelling academically. After graduation, Peace returned home to teach at his old Catholic high school. He also entered the drug business. At thirty, someone killed him. Jeff Hobbs, Peace's former Yale roommate, attended the funeral and decided to tell this story. Hobbs interviewed friends from both worlds Peace inhabited. The result examines what it costs to live between the circumstances of your birth and the possibilities your talents create. Peace worked and loved and cared for his mother. He made choices and had choices made for him. His life reveals the complexity of moving between different worlds and the price that movement can exact.
Genres: american, african-american, biography-memoir, academic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, social-commentary
Setting: East Orange, Illtown, Newark, Yale
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
406 pages · Hardcover · Scribner
Content warnings: racism