As a judge in rural Tillamook County, Oregon, Neal C. Lemery watched for years as frustrated, hopeless young men cycled through his courtroom. Many of them ended up in Tillamook's local juvenile prison. Lemery came to understand the reasons behind their failure: poverty, illiteracy, abuse, and absentee fathers.
Despite disapproval in his community, Lemery began visiting the prison and speaking with these young men. Many were hesitant at first, but slowly their stories began to emerge. Lemery was there to provide personal and legal advice-and often simply to listen. Most of them had never known a positive male role model. Eventually Lemery's patience and tenderness paid off. As walls came down, new portraits emerged of boys who wanted to be decent, caring, contributing men, but didn't know how.
Mentoring Boys to Men is the story of how the simple gifts of time and a compassionate ear made the difference in the lives of these juvenile offenders. With his story, Lemery hopes to inspire you to reach out to the rejected and vulnerable. After reading this book, your soul will rejoice at the idea of making a unique kind of personal, profound, and positive connection in your newfound young friends' lives.
About the Author: Neal C. Lemery, JD, is a native of rural Tillamook County, Oregon, and a fourth-generation Oregonian. He has served as a Tillamook County justice of the peace, as a circuit court judge in three counties, as a municipal judge in five cities, and as a juvenile alternative court judge. He has also served as the Tillamook County district attorney, where he implemented child support collection and criminal victims' assistance programs.
A dedicated community organizer, he has served as president of the Oregon YMCAs, the Tillamook Bay Community College Foundation, and the Oregon Justices of the Peace Association. Now retired, he continues to mentor young men incarcerated in a local prison. Lemery and his wife have been foster parents to several boys. Lemery wrote his first book, Mentoring Boys to Men, to share his experiences and to encourage others to pay attention to the plight of a lost generation of young men.
