Wes Moore: Thank you very much.
Wes , his friends, and family and my friends, and family. To interview Wes when you walk
Wes is not a dumb guy by any stretch of the imagination.
Wes out. He specifically would tell Wes continually listen you're not built for this, and you're not built for this game.
As Wes kindly mentioned, we are promoting this book right here.
But for Wes Leonard, he had a gene, he possibly had a gene -- they haven't done genetic testing on him -- but
So in Wes Leonard's case one thing that could have saved him was if he had genetic testing.
Institution from Wes Moore.
and Tony pulled Wes outside and said, "Where'd you get this money from? And Wes said, ""Oh, I'm making the money DJing." And Tony was too smart for that, and this was when Wes
And then Wes began to say, oh, I made this money DJing,.
Today we're here to hear from Wes Moore author of "The Other Wes Moore: One Name Two Fates", and by way of introduction I'm just going to read from the jacket, because I think it
male #1: Did the other Wes Moore have a chance to read the book?
point because there is a point where Wes and Tony are talking. Tony is Wes 's older brother and Tony, heh, Tony, Tony is a, ah fascinating character.
This guy makes film that are vaguely reminiscent of a Wes Anderson world.
took David, Wes and I-- the other directors-- out to lunch, and kind of pitched through this idea for "Futurama."
And so few years after I first learned about the other Wes Moore, I couldn't escape it,
were able to get the story done but those are really Wes is main reactions.
And Wes was making $6.50-7.00 and hour doing odd jobs because, you know, as a felon your not going to, there's a whole lot of jobs you're not even eligible for.
Because when I talk to Wes about it he said, "You know I've wasted every opportunity I've ever had in life, and I'm going to die in here.
just there waiting for him and they were just compounded at that point because now Wes had four children. Now Wes had two mothers' of his children who both needed money; his mother
And so I say that and share that not necessarily to make people sympathize with Wes . I say that not to have any revisionist history about what happen, because Wes made the decision
And you just stay viable, and then this next generation of people like Wes Anderson, Sofia, they go, well that guy's OK, he's not terrible yet.
It's slow and methodical, but it's like-- it's kind of like a Wes Anderson film in a lot of ways.
Bill Cosby Cosby Looks So Sophisticated in this image rather looks like he should be in a Wes Anderson
myself and a coup-one of my other buddies, Wes , were sitting at the Mirage pool with all of the money that we had in a duffel bag.
"Wes Moore is a Rhodes scholar, a combat veteran of Afghanistan.
But every time I went to see Wes and actually do these interviews, I was never allowed bring any type of pens, any paper, any tape recorders,
And so as I was doing these interviews with Wes , I would sit for the hour and talk with him, and thenonce the guard said it was time
So, Wes got a chance to get his GED in the Job Corp, he found out he was reading at a sophomore in college reading level through
And then as I got older, like the Coen brothers, the Wes Anderson, like the people who were building worlds who were making these sort
As an example, a tragic example, there was a high school basketball player -- his name was Wes Leonard -- earlier this year, he was playing
So I turn to Wes and I say, "Wes , do you think we can just leave this bag here
Wes Moore.
I discovered that one of the guys that was caught was living in the same area that I was living in, was around the same age that I was, and his name was also Wes Moore.
And a few years ago a friend of mine, who is an author, actually knew that I had reached out to Wes and knew that I had gotten to know him.
And then I thought about something that Wes
Some of the things we talked about and some of the challenges and wasted opportunities and the things that I've learned about Wes for example:
The question was has the other Wes Moore had a chance to read the book.
An-But it's interesting because when I first decided to actually turn this into this, and as I said you know, Wes really one of the, you know, one of the one of the main reasons
I remember I went to talk, there's one character in the book, uh, one of Wes 's good friends Woody, and I remember when I first got a chance to meet Woody.
And what he's like, "Hey Wes , so, what
And he's like, "I talked to Wes , and he says you're a good dude, and he says you're just trying to help some kids."
Umm, and but had it not been for Wes pushing his people to do that, and then
There's actually a scene in the book when Wes and I are talking about
Was Tony went to Wes 's house and saw a whole tower high, you know, row of sneakers lined up in Wes 's room,
And Tony was like, "Wes is out here hustling."
Wes had a chance to go
Only 5% are like Wes , who are in there for life without parole.