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

by Sam Roberts

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.

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 8, 2009

About the author

Sam Roberts, a 50-year veteran of New York journalism, is an obituaries reporter and formerly the Urban Affairs correspondent at the New York Times. He has hosted the New York Times "Close Up” on TV and the podcasts "Only in New York," anthologized in a book of the same name, and "The Caucus." He is the author of The New Yorkers, A History of New York in 27 Buildings, A History of New York in 101 Objects, and Grand Central, among other books. He has written for the NYT Magazine, the New Republic, New York, Vanity Fair, Foreign Affairs, and Air Mail. A history adviser to Federal Hall, he lives in New York with his wife.

Reviews

[Frank Stein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This guy did apparently invent everything from the modern "release on recognizance" bail scheme to workfare to New York's paratransit "Access-A-Ride" and for that he certainly deserves a book, yet most people, even most New Yorkers, have hardly even seen his name in a newspaper. The author explains that Sturz demonstrates what can be accomplished "when one is willing to share credit." Or as Sturz himself says, "Politicians need the credit, I don't." He consciously kept himself obscure so his programs could thrive.

The problem is that Sturz is so immune to credit and publicity that even in his own book he takes backstage while the reader is barraged with countless non-profits and spin-offs he started. His actual influence or position in any of them seems obscure. The author also seems to think that every single one of these programs was an unalloyed good, but often little evidence is provided. The constant mission creep of these programs tends to indicate that they were occasionally misguided or misdirected. They also changed names and priorities so often that they tend to blur into one another.

A little more research and a little more clarity and focus would have done a great deal to improve this book.

[Gregory]

www.nytimes.com/2009/04/26/books/revi...

that's the review. Here's the last sentence of it, "When he started out 50 years ago, Sturz had nothing more than a college degree, an encouraging note from a favorite author, John Steinbeck, and a vague commitment to improve the lives of society’s downtrodden. Unlike most young people with worthy aspirations, he actually managed to change things. Perhaps, as President Obama suggested recently, the critical factor in creating change is persistence. Keeping faith for half a century is a kind of genius, too."

He was a progressive who could work with more conservative people. Always working to improve the lot of those at the bottom.