A Kind of Genius: Herb Sturz and Society's Toughest Problems

by Sam Roberts

Overview

In A Kind of Genius, Sam Roberts offers a window onto Herb Sturz's extraordinary life's work. Sturz began his long career in social entrepreneurship by reforming the bail system and founding the Vera Institute of Justice. He served as New York City's Deputy Mayor for Criminal Justice under Ed Koch and then as Chairman of the City Planning Commision. He moved on to establish affordable inner-city housing and programs for at-risk individuals. But Sturz has, to date, largely eschewed the public's eye.

Roberts pays tribute to Sturz's inspirational legacy of accomplishment. His initiatives have consistently provided solutions to our most challenging problems. Here, for the first time, his astonishing story is told in full.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786727544
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	03/03/2009
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	464
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Sam Roberts is an urban affairs correspondent and Metro Matters columnist for the New York Times and, as such, has become something of the face and voice for the city at large. He is the author of numerous books, including The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case. Sam is frequently heard on NPR.

Editorial Reviews

Roberts does a fine job of showing how Sturz succeeded not only by having good ideas but also by appealing to "government's enlightened self-interest."
—The Washington Post

Liam Julian

Any writer who employs the word "genius" in the title of a biography—especially the biography of someone who is unknown to the broad public—is accepting a dare to prove that the subject deserves it. As for A Kind of Genius, the title Sam Roberts uses for his life of Herb Sturz, it not only demands proof but provokes other questions. Exactly what kind of genius is this man? Who is he, anyway? And why should we care? Roberts answers those challenges in full, well before the conclusion of this engaging book.
—The New York Times

Joe Conason

In what is both a biography and an appreciation of his subject's achievement, Roberts (New York Times; The Brother: The Untold Story of the Rosenberg Case) brings our attention to a pioneer of social entrepreneurship. For over four decades, as a public official in New York's city government and the founding director of the After-School Corporation and the Vera Institute of Justice, Herb Sturz has initiated and shepherded significant social reforms. In his account, Roberts highlights Sturz's personal experiences, his motivations, and the unusual paths his life has taken, emphasizing the marriage of political and business acumen often cultivated by individuals who feel driven to change society for the better-and who succeed at it. The influences of pragmatism, his father's unconditional love, a bout with polio at an early age, a letter from John Steinbeck, and a profound respect for the Bill of Rights-all helped shape Sturz, depicted as an admirable, humble, idealistic realist (if you will), an average man intent on tirelessly championing civil rights and liberties. Also notable here is the in-depth analysis of the numerous social programs Sturz created. Recommended for public and undergraduate libraries, especially with collections in social-service entrepreneurship.
—Theresa Kintz

Library Journal

Library Journal, 3/1
“In what is both a biography and an appreciation of his subject's achievement, Roberts…brings our attention to a pioneer of social entrepreneurship….The influences of pragmatism, his father's unconditional love, a bout with polio at an early age, a letter from John Steinbeck, and a profound respect for the Bill of Rights—all helped shape Sturz, depicted as an admirable, humble, idealistic realist (if you will), an average man intent on tirelessly championing civil rights and liberties. Also notable here is the in-depth analysis of the numerous social programs Sturz created. Recommended for public and undergraduate libraries, especially with collections in social-service entrepreneurship”

executive editor Mark Schmitt, American Prospect, 3/20
“The book catches the feel of governance over a long era in New York and how a single visionary could get one thing after another accomplished.”
 

Washington Post, 4/5
“Roberts does a fine job of showing how Sturz succeeded not only by having good ideas but also by appealing to ‘government's enlightened self-interest.’ Systems change when systems see a selfish reason to change. In our time of national transformation, it's a valuable lesson.

From the Publisher