( continued from page 21 ) intervened after a high-speed chase and J . D . watched from the safety of one police car as his mother was handcuffed and placed in the other . For what seemed like an eternity , J . D . waited until Lindsay and Mamaw arrived to take him home . Lawyers were hired in order to keep mom out of jail and J . D . would have to give evidence . The critical question was whether or not his mom had threatened him . If so , she would go to jail . Mamaw in her wisdom advised her grandson that whatever his mother had done it wouldn ’ t be good for appearances if she ended up in jail and so when the question was asked he should deny that any threat was made . He complied and he and Mamaw struck a deal . From that moment on he could live permanently with his grandparents and see his mother only when he wanted .
For a while , J . D . and Lindsay tried to manage on their own . Their mother , in and out of rehab for addiction to drugs initially stolen from the hospital , was unavailable to them for long periods of time . Failing in school and with little motivation for anything , twelve-year-old J . D . decided it was time to move in with Mamaw and Papaw . It wasn ’ t easy . Mamaw was tough , but Mamaw was on his side . From time to time J . D . would visit his mother , now living with her fifth husband . He even attended an addicts ’ support group meeting with her but the hopelessness of most of the other adults he encountered there was just too much for him to handle .
When J . D . was in high school Mamaw insisted that he take a job of some kind . He started helping out in a local grocery store where he became “ something of an amateur sociologist .” He was starting to notice that not all the folks in the neighborhood behaved the same way . In particular he started to record what people did with their food stamps and their cash and how they used the one to create the other . He began to identify the men and women who worked hard to take care of their families ’ needs and those who were content to let the government provide . He and Mamaw had long conversations about these things . She had total disdain for shirkers and welfare queens .
It is not entirely clear to me when J . D . started to read what had already been written and hypothesized about “ his people .” ( This is a phrase that appears not only in the book but which I have heard him use in a number of interviews and political discussions . It is one of the things that his detractors use against him .) The book is peppered with references to research articles and books by several academic sociologists . The author uses them to highlight or help him understand his own experiences and observations . Sometimes he uses them to advantage , sometimes they seem a little contrived . Two names that I recognized amongst these references were Raj Chetty and Charles Murray ( the latter not winning any brownie points for the author among the critics on the political left ).
University , but the application form and the realization that legally he is still Bob Hamel ’ s son are things he and Mamaw don ’ t really want to fool with . He has a cousin , a young woman who joined the Marine Corps and she puts him in touch with a recruitment officer . The decision is made . The recruitment officer comes to visit and tells J . D . that boot camp will be tough but not as tough as life with his grandma .
During his four years in the Marine Corps J . D . finds stability , discipline , role models who don ’ t let him down and mentors who offer him sound guidance . He thrives . Thereafter his application to Ohio State is a cinch : his work ethic propels him to success and again he finds role models and mentors he can trust . Then it is on to Yale Law School , and the realization that he is somewhat of a novelty to many of his classmates , although he can rise to the challenges presented to him . He can manage the difficult choices that he is required to make . He meets Usha , a young Indian woman who is his classmate . She attended Yale as an undergrad and helps him navigate campus life and Law School rituals . Mamaw and Papaw , who had moved back to Mamaw ’ s family home in Jackson while J . D . was in the Marines , did not live to see J . D . and Usha graduate . Eighteen of J . D .’ s extended family , but not his mother , attend the ceremony where they meet Usha and her family for the first time . All goes well .
Shortly after their graduation Usha and J . D . are married in a double ceremony , Hindu and Christian , back home in Jackson . Both take the name Vance . Finally , J . D . has the same name as the family to which he will always belong .
During the last three years J . D . and Usha have served one year clerkships in Cincinnati . They then worked for a private law firm in Columbus , Ohio but within the past year they have moved to San Francisco where J . D . is now a principal in an investment firm . J . D . and his book have generated both accolades and fierce criticism during the last six months . I think the harshest words were those published in the Lexington Herald-Leader which described him as a “ Silicon Vall-billy ” and an “ Elite .” According to the Cleveland Inquirer , J . D . is working with Governor John Kasich to establish a non-profit organization that will work to promote educational and economic opportunities within the Rust Belt . That takes cash . The future will tell us what direction he takes . For anyone who may be wondering , J . D . voted for someone other than the two main presidential candidates .
Dr . Amin is a retired diagnostic radiologist .
Returning to the memoir itself , we learn that J . D . struggles through but graduates from high school . His goal is to get to Ohio State
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