Chestnut Hollow Blues

Anita Mae Smith was barely fourteen years old when she gave birth to her son,Raymond, in the late forties in Norristown, Pennsylvania. Raymond s fatherwas somewhere between ages fifteen and sixteen, and never acknowledgedRaymond s entrance into the world. After he was adopted and his last namechanged, little Raymond embarked on a coming-of-age journey on EastChestnut Street where he often faced incredible challenges. In a memoir chronicling his experiences as a young Black man in Pennsylvania,Raymond discloses how his life changed at age fourteen when his adoptivemother suddenly died. As he details how he was set adrift to propel down arabbit hole of trouble, Raymond provides insights into how he hit the streetsand lost his way for a time, only to battle his way back from the depths ofdespair and bad choices to earn a full athletic scholarship to a four-year collegeand ultimately three graduate degrees. In this inspiring memoir, a Black man born into a difficult environment revealshow he climbed a mountain of challenges to beat the odds and realize success,happiness, and fulfillment.