Brent staples biography books

The expectation was that he would go straight to work, most likely at one of the shipyards in Chester. He was convinced to attend Widener University then known as Penn Morton College by the only African American professor at the school as part of a program named Project Prepare. He graduated from Widener University with a B. He was awarded two doctoral fellowships from the Danforth Foundation and the Ford Foundation.

Staples received a master's degree in psychology in and a Ph. Inhis younger brother, Blake, a cocaine dealer, was murdered by a client, which forced Staples to reconsider his own success and his inability to stop his brother's life choices. Inhe was hired as a science writer by the Chicago Sun-Times. Magazine inwas so influential that it soon became required reading in numerous college courses.

InStaples received an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters from Mount Saint Mary College. He has served as a visiting fellow at such institutions as the Hoover Foundationthe University of Chicago and Yale University. Contents move to sidebar hide. Article Talk. Read Edit View history. Tools Tools. Download as PDF Printable version.

In other projects. Wikidata item. American editorial writer. Chester, PennsylvaniaU. Penn Morton College B. University of Chicago M. Early life and education [ edit ]. Career [ edit ]. Bibliography [ edit ]. References [ edit ]. The New York Times. Before Staples was born his parents moved from rural Virginia to Chester, Pennsylvaniathen a prosperous small city with a huge shipbuilding industry.

The family fortunes dwindled, however, as his father began drinking heavily. Huge responsibilities were heaped on Brent as an oldest son, and with a mixture of resentment and frustration, he began looking beyond his home for emotional support and intellectual stimulation. Education: Widener University, B. Adjunct professor of psychology at colleges in Pennsylvania and Chicago, ; reporter, Chicago Sun-Ttmes, ; editorial writer, New York Times, 1 —.

Selected awards: Danforth fellowship for graduate study at University of Chicago.

Brent staples biography books

He turned inward, distancing himself from his dysfunctional family. Although his love for his family never wavered, he wisely chose to observe it from a safe distance, almost with the detachment of an outsider. He struggled to understand the forces that persuaded his loved ones to accept so easily the poverty and despair that imprisoned them.

The Staples family found itself literally on the run from house to house, hoping to escape from landlords and creditors. By his own estimation, Staples moved eight times before he reached seventh grade. He was often disoriented and confused, and his schooling was interrupted. Staples never even dreamed of going to college. His family had no money for tuition, his grades were average, and he had taken only a few high-level academic courses in high school.

He did not even take the SAT test as a senior; he expected to go right to work after graduation. Staples was accepted into a program called Project Prepare that enabled him to improve his academic skills in an atmosphere of strict discipline. In the fall he was accepted as a full-time student. When Staples was a junior the Philadelphia Military College became Widener University at the urging of a wealthy trustee.

He also received a Danforth fellowship for graduate study at the University of Chicago. Moving west for further education, the young scholar effectively separated himself from his working-class family and the community where he had grown up. He would never again return to Chester for any significant period of time. Staples found that subtle forms of racism were evident everywhere as he worked toward his Ph.

A tall, broad-shouldered man, he noticed that white people in his neighborhood would often cross the street to avoid passing him, especially at night. That he was assumed to be dangerous merely because he is black offended him. After seething about it for some months, Staples turned the sidewalk experience into a game. His thesis was on the mathematics of decision-making, and it earned him a Ph.

For a time in the late s, Staples supported himself by teaching. He even spent a summer in Chester, as a visiting professor at his alma materWidener. He had been keeping a journal for years, and he began selling some pieces of writing on a free-lance basis. He soon discovered that he could make a better living as a writer than as a teacher.