One name, two fates
Wes Moore is a remarkably high achiever; he has gone from a childhood spent in a poor neighbourhood in the american city of Baltimore to becoming a Rhodes scholar, a Special Assistant to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and a business leader.
In 2000, just after winning a Rhodes scholarship, he learned of another Wes Moore who would soon be sentenced to life in prison for his role in a botched robbery that resulted in the death of an off-duty police officer.
What was remarkable was that there were striking similarities in the two men's lives - both had grown up in the same neighbourhood, both had grown up without their father - for very different reasons - and yet their lives had taken a very different turn.
Wes Moore, who had achieved so much in his life, decided to write to his namesake who was in prison. He tells Matthew Bannister how this led to an extraordinary journey of discovery and friendship.
Wes Moore’s book ‘The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates’ is out now, published by Spiegel & Grau.