The flight of a home town son - Paperback
Pay over time for orders over $35.00 with
Offers & Perks
Earn 16 points with this purchase
Added to your rewards balance after checkout.
100 points welcome bonus
Create an account and start with extra points.
Before the smoke cleared from the closing steel mills, Gary, Indiana, was a city alive with pride, community, and unconditional Black love. It was a world of Saturday morning haircuts on Broadway, packed summer concerts at Marquette Park, and tight-knit neighborhoods. But when the crack epidemic flooded the streets, the rules changed overnight. Plunged into a high-stakes life of gangs and fast money, one young man found himself running out of time and out of choices-until a forced escape to Minnesota changed his trajectory forever. Yet, beneath the chaos lay a foundation of faith he tried hard to outrun. Years earlier, his mother had dragged him kicking and screaming to study with Jehovah's Witnesses. He hated every minute of it then, but the seeds of truth were planted deep. This is a raw, honest look at survival, redemption, and the unbreakable bond of the city that raised him-and the ultimate return to a faith that would rescue both him and his wife.
Kevin Rayner is a storyteller and debut memoirist dedicated to preserving the history, complex realities, and resilience of the streets that raised him. Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, Kevin grew up immersed in a tight-knit, proud Black community during the 1970s and 80s-a time defined by deep mutual respect and neighborhood strength.
He witnessed firsthand how the closure of the city's vital steel mills devastated the local economy, a hardship that was quickly compounded when the sudden introduction of crack cocaine further fractured the community's foundation, shifting the landscape and drawing him into a dangerous cycle of gang life and fast money.
When a street scuffle ended with a pulled trigger and a miraculously jammed gun, his mother made the immediate decision to pack his things and force a move to Minnesota. Though he was angry with her intervention at the time, Kevin eventually realized her decisive action saved his life and opened the door to his ultimate redemption: becoming a father and marrying the woman who would become his anchor-the perfect wife he never knew he needed.
Now a proud family man, Kevin works as a dedicated letter carrier for the United States Postal Service.
Contributor(s)
Author
Free shipping on orders over $75. Standard shipping takes 3-7 business days. Eligible items may be returned within 30 days of delivery. Conditions apply.