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Book Tells of One Name, But Two Divergent Fates

Wes Moore

Since the time you were very young, you've probably been told it:  our choices matter.

Almost everything we do can have an impact on the rest of our life.  Sometimes, it's hard to see that lesson come into focus.  But in the case of Wes Moore, that lesson is extremely visible.

Moore faced significant challenges in his childhood, growing up in Maryland. So did another kid, growing up nearby, who also happened to be named Wes Moore. But their paths diverged.

"We were two kids who were both searching for similar things at similar times in our life," he says. "We were both searching for belonging, a sense of involvement, a sense of positive role models.  And fundamentally what happened was one kid got it, and the other kid did not."

The Wes Moore we spoke to went on to write a best-selling book, called The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates, on his own life and that of his namesake, who ended up in prison, convicted of murder.

This Wes Moore is also a veteran of the war in Afghanistan, a former White House fellow, and founder of a Baltimore organization that works with children in the criminal justice system.  He spoke with us ahead of a visit to MATC in March.