An Interview with

Jerald Hoover knows the incredible toll drug and alcohol abuse can take on a family. Five members of his family- including his father - died of alcohol-related poisoning and two of his cousins, he said, died from AIDS after sharing needles with other drug addicts.

For nearly 20 years, Hoover has been on a crusade to educate young people about the dangers of alcohol and drugs. And now the 37-year-old freelance writer has written a book that he hopes carries a strong message of abstinence."I just want children to understand how important it is to stay away from substance abuse,Hoover said."My Friend My Hero"kicks off a four-part book series Hoover calls " the hero series." Hoover's books -he expects to release a second next month- are based on obstacles he said are often thrown in the path of young people. Hoover's home, Mount Vernon, is featured prominently in "My Friend My Hero." The book's main character, Bennett Wilson, is a Mount Vernon High School basketball star who is the oldest of three children living with their single mother, who endures such problems as povert and poor health. As a result, Wilson becomes a prime candidate to sell drugs. But, despite peer pressure and desperate living conditions, Wilson refuses and eventually becomes a top-flight athlete.

Hoover said he began writing the book in 1983 using a pencil because he couldn't afford a typewriter. Undaunted be the constant rejection from publishers, Hoover finally found a company willing to work with him. "U-B U.S. Books folded a year later, Hoover conviced the Winston Derrick company to reprint and publish "My Friend My Hero," and later the manuscrpit was sent to press a third time by A&B Publishers of Brooklyn, which agreed to print the entire series. Sales of the book have exceeded more than 20,000 copies since its release and Hoover said Barnes & Noble has agreed to stock copies of his series. Because the 192-page book contains a topic for discussions and question and answer segments, Hoover is often invited to schools, churches and community centers to speak. " My children could not put my book down, " said Tonia Carlo a teacher at Franko Middle School in Mount Vernon. " The author writes about an area the students are familiar with, and the book is an easy read, which of course allows students who may have difficultly with reading to fully participate," Carlo said. Hoover's series includes photos of the Mount Vernon Boys & Girls club and Mount Vernon High School. He is preparing to film a documentary in Mount Vernon next spring that will feature a cameo appearance by Mayor Ernest Davis. "Over the course of my years," Davis said, " I have been impressed with the abilities of those who were able to rise above what many would predict to be their future. They confounded the so-called experts and overcame the odds. such a young man as Jerald Hoover, by all accounts, statistically should have failed. He saw a world that chewed up and spit out so many of his closest friends and relatives, but he also saw a world of opportunity.

                                                                                                   Stacy Brown
                                                                                                    The Journal News

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Award-winning Bronx writer, 37 year-old Jerold LeVon Hoover was the featured speaker at P.S. 315's annual Career Day Program. Seen here with a group of students holding his books "My Friend, My Hero" and "He Was My Hero," on sale in March at Barnes and Noble, Hoover shared his difficulties growing up poor in the Patterson Houses in the Morrisania section of the Bronx and later in Mount Vernon. The son of a drug and alcoholic addicted father with other family members who died early as a result of the disease, Hoover poured out his emotions as a child on paper by writing. He encouraged the students to do the same. During the visit, Hoover presented Carrion, who was awarded earlier for his dedication to the school, with an autographed copy of, "My Friend, My Hero."