John Robert Marks III

“I think the most memorable thing about my childhood was the fact that I looked at a neighborhood that was that was actually very, and this is true caring and nurturing. Oh, not only were my parents nurturing, but the other mothers and fathers and parents in that neighborhood were nurturing or would look after you and would praise you but they also would scold you if you did anything wrong. “You know, your mama like that.” You know that kind of thing. Well, hey they would take care of us that it was that kind of a neighborhood.”

“My mother, especially. She made sure that I didn't feel like I was somehow inferior, or that I could not accomplish what anybody else. I remember she used to sit with me all the time. If a task is once begun, never leave it till it's done. Be the works, whether small, do it well or not at all. I mean, she instilled that kind of, that kind ethic in me. She knew. She saw early and she saw, she was a teacher, okay, so she kind of understood. She actually ended up a social worker in the school system.”