Westley Watende Omari Moore, author of the best selling "The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two
Fates" spoke in the BGSU ballroom, crowded with quietly attentive students and a contingent of
citizens, including Mayor Dick Edwards, familiar with the book though group reads and Moore’s many
advocacies articulated on television and reported in national publications.
"The Other Wes Moore," published in 2010, was chosen as the fourteenth annual "Common
Read" title read by incoming BGSU freshman. This common experience is used as a jumping off point
in a variety of academic settings, and the chosen authors’ campus appearances have been popular. Moore
fits well into this year’s theme of Identity, and questions about choices, identity and futures.
Even a partial list of the 38-year-old Moore’s achievements is breathtaking. The most impressive, of
course was surviving a tragedy marred childhood in very tough, crime and poverty ridden neighborhoods –
a world of without opportunity.
On the short list is graduating from Valley Forge Military College, then from John Hopkins University,
then from Oxford, on a Rhodes Scholarship, with a masters in international studies. Then service in
Afghanistan in the First Brigade of the Army 82 Airborne. He then became a White House Fellow working
under Condelessa Rice.
The list goes on and on; the achievements are a context for the man.
They also give force to his message of the ideal, to him a necessity, of leading a meaningful life.
"Act on what breaks your heart." He began the pattern early when a John Hopkins professor
urged his Western Justice students to find a an injustice and then try to fix it. Moore chose to work
with youth caught up in the legal system. Fifteen years later, STANDI continues the same work.
Wes Moore is fit, but surprisingly slight in comparison to his television appearances, where perhaps the
weightiness of his messages, on behalf of Afghanistan War Veterans or the importance of positive
leadership, gives him additional heft.
Moore lightly jumped off the speaker’s platform and away from the podium. Using a mysterious invisible
microphone he began his conversation with the audience.
He joked about the difficulty of titling a book, balancing author’s idealism with a publishers’ study
that 3.2 seconds is all the time a buyer considers a book cover before moving on…or not.
"Who ever heard of putting the author’s name in the title? Besides, who knows who Wes Moore
is?" The framework of the story, but not the real meaning, can be found on the book jacket he
maintains. On the day the Baltimore Sun had a piece about him, Wes Moore, receiving a Rhodes
Scholarship, there was another story. A Wes Moore was sentenced to prison for life for a murder felony.
Haunted by the similar names and contrasting fates Moore followed up. "The chilling truth is that
his story could have been mine. The tragedy is that my story could have been his."
Another chilling story involve a Baltimore teacher who found The Other Wes Moore an extremely effective
teaching tool. Then she discovered one of her students was "the other’s" eldest son. She was
horrified. He handled it well.
To Moore the most important word in the title is "other." The other as different, unfamiliar,
someone who needs to be stood up for. Those who wish to lead meaningful lives must pay attention to the
society and ways to impact it for the better.
While at John Hopkins Moore’s least favorite but most frequent question was, "What’s your
major?" He defended the concept of having a despised major as leading to foundations and
disciplines that add to flexibility and adaptability, while saying only 8% of college graduates at 35
are working in their "major" field.
Moore is very aware of society’s ills and all our responsibilities, but he is also a joyful man and in
answer to a student question about "why" he talked about Harry Belafonte, the great calypso
singer and actor. Belafonte was helpful to an imprisoned Martin Luther King in Birmingham, and though
almost ninety now, is still active in all sorts of causes. His answer to "why?" is that life
is more interesting and fun when you try to make a difference.
Wes Moore has a new book: My Work: My Search For a Life That Matters, a another theme of his
presentation. He is also focusing on what he calls the Choke Year, the freshman year of college that
loses so many kids. He has ideas about how to fix it. Naturally, he has an enterprise for it –
BridgeEdu.
The book signing line after the presentation was very long. The entire girls basketball team attended.
That must mean something.
