Outcast

I spent my entire adult life hiding something that’s haunted me for as long as I can remember—dyslexia.

OUTCAST, A Dyslexic in an Ivy League World, is the story of living with severe dyslexia and redefining the road to success, not through the privilege of education, but through triumph over extraordinary obstacles. Labeled a failure by the educational system, I finished last in my high school class. I never earned a college credit or read a book. Yet I carved an unlikely path into the heart of Wall Street, rising to become a senior executive at Merrill Lynch.

At the peak of my career, I walked away and went in search of a more authentic life. My wife and I sold our Beacon Hill home and took our two toddlers on a year-long journey in a custom tour bus that was originally built for country star George Strait. We eventually settled in rural Vermont where I did the one thing my dyslexia said I never could—I became a writer.

For decades, I painstakingly concealed my severe dyslexia behind professional excellence in a culture that prized academic credentials. I was aways waiting for that tap on the shoulder, “come with us, we know about you.” Only after stepping away from my storied financial career did I confront and embrace the very condition that had fueled my determination. In this deeply honest and upbeat memoir, I share the battles, insights, and hard-won lessons of a life spent navigating a world built for others, a testament to resilience, reinvention, and the hidden power of thinking differently.

In recent years, as I’ve reflected on my life journey with severe dyslexia, I’ve been curious to know how other dyslexic adults have gotten along. Dyslexia is a chronic condition, there’s no cure and contrary to popular belief you don’t outgrow it. I went looking for audiobooks about the “lived experience” of dyslexia, shockingly it was slim pickings. I was left with a burning question: how do dyslexics fare in adulthood? I set out to write the book I wanted to read.