Some of the people in this book have not been charged with or admitted to crimes ascribed to them by others; Boy George was never tried for the murders attributed to him during his trial. Much of the information about those murders, as well as the heroin milling process, is culled from court testimony, with further independent corroboration from millworkers and other employees. I attended most of Boy George’s trial, two related trials, and several sentencings. For further background, I studied criminal law, drug policy, and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines during a year’s Knight Journalism Fellowship at Yale Law School, and spent a summer as an intern in a New York State court that handled only A-1 felonies. The majority of the fieldwork for this book, however, consisted of open-ended days and nights in those places where poverty took the people I was writing about: prisons, police stations, countless legal- and social-service institutions, homeless shelters, emergency rooms, the street.
Clearly, I could not have written intimately about this particular American experience of class injustice had the many people in this book not opened their lives to me. While the telling of this story is, finally, my own, I hope it honors their insight and generosity. I met George at the start of his criminal trial. What began as a portrait of a remarkable young man became a complicated family saga, which engaged eleven years of my life. I’m grateful to George for his impatience—his repeated attempts to make me see the bigger picture. My immense gratitude to Jessica, who bravely shared the highs and lows of her extraordinary life. Coco, in the deepest sense, made a home for me. I cherish her friendship and her capacity for joy. Cesar educated me. Our conversations continue to stimulate my thinking about both the worlds he inhabits and the ones we share. I look forward to a day when we can talk freely on this side of the wall.
My decision to write about Coco’s daily struggles baffled her neighbors, family, and friends. “Why Coco?” I was asked again and again. “Coco’s just regular,” people said. “Plenty of girls is worse off.” Certainly, I have found this to be true. The hardships of these young people and their families are not unusual in their neighborhoods. Neither are their gifts.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people and organizations, only some of whom I honor here, contributed to an environment within which my ability to do creative work was nurtured and sustained: Dorothy O’Connor, one of my earliest teachers; Richard Marchand; Sheila Rockwell, who literally drove me to Smith College, a rare institution whose tensions sharpened me and whose educators equipped me for a spacious world, especially Maria and Ron Banerjee, Martha Fowlkes, Carla Golden, Philip and Dorothy Green, and Marian Macdonald. Thanks to Richard Todd, my first editor, with whom I began this work; Roberta Myers, for giving me wide berth exactly when I needed it; Amy Virshup, for the initial assignments at The Village Voice; and Adam Moss, at The New York Times Magazine, for his ongoing interest and goodwill. Both the Barbara Deming Women’s Memorial Fund and Cottages at Hedgebrook believed in me early on; much later, at The New Yorker, Henry Finder reeled me in. Also at The New Yorker, I am grateful to Jay Fielden and Andrew Young.
The Knight Foundation and Yale Law School gave me a fellowship that armed me for one side of the legal world. Rona Jaffe, the Commonwealth Fund, the Carnegie Corporation and the Mrs. Giles Whiting Foundation made possible a critical year at the Bunting Institute under the artful directorship of Florence Ladd. There, my sister-fellows enriched my understanding of passion and community. The Radcliffe Research Partnership Program connected me with the inspiring Sarah Dry and Alison May. Jennifer Forrider and Robert Schirmer provided welcomed technical assistance; Hilary Russ, cheer along with the extra fact-checking. The Blessing Way Foundation, Echoing Green, the Richard Margolis Award, and the Open Society Institute generously gave me additional financial support. Edward Albee, Sophie Cabot Black, the MacDowell Colony, the Millay Colony, and Blue Mountain Center kindly provided me with necessary solitude.
Robert Simels good-naturedly let the story happen. My appreciation to the wonderful women of Thorpe House, especially Sister Christine Hennessy; Ramapo Anchorage Camp, for the staff training that taught me the magic of their pragmatism; Willie Cebollero; Henry DiPippo; Patrick Fitzgerald; Les Wolff; Vinny Lopane; John Harris; Leslie Crocker Snyder; Steven Duke; Brett Dignam and the enlivening students of the prison clinic at Yale Law School, especially Jonathan Hafetz and Johanna Schwartz; Daniel J. Freed; Rick Mason; and the staff at the National Archives and Records Administration in New York. Many sources took real risks in talking with me whom I cannot mention by name—without your trust, this book would not exist.
Other courageous and patient people not only gave of their time but shared their lives. In particular, I would like to thank Mercedes, Serena, Iris, Elaine, and Robert, who revisited painful times in telling me what I needed to know. Warmest thanks also to Foxy and Lourdes, who raised me up by welcoming me into their families; to Milagros, for her friendship and hospitality; and to Rocco, not only for the pleasure of our countless interviews but for his wise counsel about my dad. May this book do some justice to your experiences.
At ICM, thanks to Katharine Cluverius. My agent, Sloan Harris, good-humoredly steered this project through its terrific travels, until it found its rightful home. At Scribner, heartfelt thanks to Nan Graham, for not needing to be convinced. Gillian Blake, my editor, saw the promise of a book long before it was one and expertly read countless incarnations of the manuscript. Her graceful ushering of Random Family through to its completion gave me all the elbow room I needed, and her guidance over these past years remains a balm. Also at Scribner, thanks to Laura Wise, who is a consummate professional. Leslie Jones saved me from my mistakes. My appreciation to Rebecca Sumner Burgos, Betty Kramer, Rachel Sussman, and Julie Truax for their helpful readings of the manuscript.
I am fortunate for the company who has kept me along the way: Laurie Abraham; Jane Evelyn Atwood; the Azzolini-Kirns; Brett Berk; Melanie Bishop; Kenneth Bobroff; Linda Bowers; Colleen Craite; Lori DiGiacomo; Beth DiNardo; Susan Eaton; Joanne Fedler; Gerald Freund; Amy, John, and Jillian Giangrande; Gus Giangrande; Lucy Grealy; Leston Havens; Lillian Hsu-Flanders; Sonny Kleinfield; Judith Lahti; Daniel LeBlanc; Gerard LeBlanc; Barbara Lewis; Linda Martin; Guy Mastellone; Jerica Mazzaferro; Tal McThenia; Victoria Shaw; Ilena Silverman; Dorothy Thomas; Susan Todd; and Kimberly West-Faulcon.
Special thanks to Pamela Talese, for her careful eye; Will Blythe, for his hunger; my mentor, Mark Kramer, for his delight in the arduous process of teaching me how to write and for championing my work these many years. All graciously read several drafts of the book.
My gratitude to the home team runs deep: Ann Patchett, for her steady faith and humor; Kristine Larsen, for her playful intelligence; Laurel Touby, for her ready spirit; Edwin C. Cohen, for the many ways in which he has sheltered me; Deborah Gunton, for her precious drive; and my parents, for the lessons in their labors of love.
Dearest thanks to Alice Truax, my editor, whose involvement in this project has been a profound blessing in my life. She gave each line her full attention and brought out a better book from me. The failures are entirely my own.
How can I thank you, my heart and ally, Arthur Joseph Giangrande? I am a very lucky girl. And so glad that it was your strong hand, the one I held every step of the way.
A SCRIBNER
READING GROUP GUIDE
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RANDOM FAMILY
1. At the beginning of the book, the author writes that “chance was opportunity in the ghetto and you had to be prepared for anything.” What opportunities did Jessica, Boy George, Coco, and Cesar consider significant, and how did they prepare for them? Did they have opportunities they could not see? Why?
2. Loyalty plays a crucial role in Random Family. What did it mean to each of the principal characters? How do their loyalties shape the course of their lives?
3. We are told, “For Jessica, love was the most interesting place to go and beauty was the ticket.” Describe the relationship between romance and money
in the lives of the book’s female characters. Is this different, in degree or in kind, from the sexual economy in mainstream American life?
4. We meet Cesar as a young boy sitting on “the broken steps of his mother’s building, biding his time, watching the older boys who ruled the street.” Who were his male role models? According to their example, what did becoming a man entail? How did this understanding of manhood prepare Cesar for prison? How did his definition of masculinity change over time?
5. For the teenage girls in Random Family, what are the attractions of being a mother? What sort of power and influence, real or imagined, are associated with the role?
6. Describe the role of social service agencies in Coco’s life. Describe the ways in which their treatment of her enhanced or undermined her own sense of agency.
7. By conventional standards, Elaine and Iris are more successful than their sisters. What qualities and actions were instrumental in achieving that success? What price did they pay for it? How do their strategies confirm or challenge traditional notions about the supportive functions of families?
8. Explore the reasons why the households in this book are often in a state of flux. Why do people move? What are the advantages and disadvantages of relocation? Do men and women move for the same reasons?
9. Many of the characters in Random Family continue to be optimistic, even cheerful, despite extremely difficult lives and setbacks. When and how can hope be a sustaining force and when and how can it be a destructive one? Discuss.
10. The author writes, “The sexual threat men posed to little girls was so pervasive that even the warnings meant to avert it were saturated with fatalism.” Explore the ways in which the ubiquity of sexual abuse in the world of the book affects the characters’ attitudes about it.
11. None of the young people in the book blame their circumstances for the choices they made, yet much of the public discussion of the poor uses terms that infer moral and personal blame. Why do you think this is? Would you assign blame for the tragedies described here? To whom? Why?
12. Political activists often complain about society’s “crisis approach” to poverty, how basic supports are only granted in emergencies. Are there examples of this in the book? What alternate strategies would improve the lives of children like Mercedes?
13. Have your ideas about poverty and privilege changed since reading Random Family? Were there moments when you particularly empathized with the people in this book? Were there moments that you felt particularly alienated? If so, when and why?
14. The author, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, interacted with these families for over a decade and was witness to most of the events that took place, yet she is not present in the narrative. How might this have been a different book if she had included herself as a character? Why does she leave herself out?
15. In an interview about the title, the author described her ongoing interest in the families teenagers form among their friends and the appeal of self-created families. Have “random families” played an important role in your own life?
Look for more Simon & Schuster reading group guides online and download them for free at www.bookclubreader.com.
Adrian Nicole LeBlanc is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine and other publications. She has also been the recipient of numerous awards, including a Bunting fellowship from Radcliffe, a MacDowell Colony residency, and a Soros Media Fellowship. She lives in Manhattan. Random Family, which was short-listed for the international Lettre Ulysses Award for the Art of Reportage, is her first book.
For More Information Visit: www.randomfamily.com
SCRIBNER
Cover design by Alese Pickering & John Fulbrook III
Cover photograph by Kristine Larsen
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A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice of 2003
Also named one of the Best Books of 2003 by:
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Chicago Tribune
The Economist
Entertainment Weekly (Number One Nonfiction Pick)
People
Publishers Weekly
San Francisco Chronicle
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
The Village Voice
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Copyright © 2003 by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc
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First Scribner trade paperback edition 2004
SCRIBNER and design are trademarks of Macmillan Library Reference USA, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, the publisher of this work.
DESIGNED BY ERICH HOBBING
Text set in Electra
The Library of Congress has cataloged the Scribner edition as follows:
LeBlanc, Adrian Nicole.
Random family: love, drugs, trouble, and coming of age in the Bronx / Adrian Nicole LeBlanc.
p. cm.
1. Urban poor—New York (State)—New York—Case studies. 2. Youth—New York (State)—New York—Biography. 3. Youth—Drug use—New York (State)—New York. 4. Family—New York (State)—New York—Case studies. 5. Inner cities—New York (State)—Case studies. 6. Bronx (New York, N.Y.)—Social conditions. 7. New York (N.Y.)—Social conditions. I. Title.
HV4046.N6 L4 2002
974.7'275043—dc21
2003026673
ISBN 0-684-86387-1
0-7432-5443-0 (Pbk)
ISBN 978-1-4391-2489-5 (eBook)
Random Family: Love, Drugs, Trouble, and Coming of Age in the Bro Page 52