Horatio Alger was a prolific American author during the second half of the 19th century. Writing books geared to young adult readers, his works featured impoverished boys and their rise from humble beginnings to middle-class security and comfort. The central character always achieved success through hard work and honesty, overcoming evil and greed.
Horatio Alger’s works were so successful that his name has become synonymous with “rags-to-riches” narratives. Sociologist and historians often cite Alger’s works as having a positive effect on American society, motivating generations of young people, especially young men of meager means, to believe that they could achieve the American dream.
Fast forward to the second decade of the 21st century. Unfortunately, many young Black, Hispanic and low-income youths in our nation’s inner cities do not have a Horatio Alger figures to emulate. They look to sports figures, rappers and drug dealers as their idols. And due to poverty and the proliferation of guns and drugs, coupled with poor school systems and lack of jobs and job training programs, they often seemed doomed to failure, with an inordinate number ending up in the criminal justice system or dead by virtue of gun violence or drugs.
Sports agent and entrepreneur Rich Paul has overcome those obstacles through a combination of brains, determination, a strong father figure and a good deal of luck to rise like a phoenix out of his humble beginnings right here in Cleveland to become a superstar sports agent and entrepreneur, with a current net worth estimated at $120 million.
He tells his success story in his new book, Lucky Me — A Memoir of Changing the Odds (Rich Paul with Jesse Washington: Roc Lit 2023), which is currently the bestselling sports biography on Amazon.
Richard Paul Jr. was born on December 16, 1981. His mother, referred to in the book as Peaches, and his father, Richard Paul Sr., were not married. Paul Sr. had a wife and family when he met Paul Jr.’s mother at the neighborhood convenience store he owned and operated at the corner of 125th Street and Edmonton Avenue, in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood.
The chemistry immediately clicked between the two. Richard Paul Jr. was the product of their union. Central to Paul’s life story were his struggles growing up with a loving but drug-addicted mother, who was frequently absent from his life, and the hard-working father, who despite his other family was determined to be a part of his son’s life. To his credit, Paul Sr., who was a bit of a hustler and sometimes lived on the fringes of the law, instilled a discipline of hard work and a desire to achieve in his son. Most importantly, he made sure his son always went to school and was always there for him.
Every morning, Paul helped his father open his store and worked there before going to school. At eight years old he was manning the cash register and running the lottery machine. He worked at the store after school and recognized that you must work for what you want and need. He learned many lessons about life and dealing with people while working with his father that were invaluable in his future life.
Although he was never homeless, Paul and his mother and two half siblings moved multiple times. There were times he slept on the floor in an apartment with little or no furniture or food. There were times be bunked with relatives and friends. He learned to fend for himself. But with the help of his father and a strong extended family, he survived and was forced to grow up quickly. As he says in the book, he was forced to focus and be prepared, attributes that were vital to him in his future life.
Before he was a teenager, he was making hundreds of dollars every day shooting dice with adults, a skill that he seemingly had an uncanny ability to succeed at, figuring out odds and honing his technique. At an early age he started selling weed and developed his own clientele, all while going to elementary school and eventually high school. And at the same time, he always maintained an above-average grade point average.
Always extremely conscious of his dress and appearance, by high school at Benedictine, an all-boys Catholic School located on Cleveland’s east side that his father paid the tuition for him to attend, he thought nothing of spending hundreds of dollars on designer shirts and athletic shoes. At one point, he decided that going to Benedictine was not necessary to succeed, so he intentionally let his grades drop. When his father discovered what he was doing, he literally put a gun to his head and told him he had better shape up or he would take him out, citing a recent example of a father who had killed his son and escaped prosecution.
Although a good athlete, especially in basketball, Paul realized early on that his short stature would never allow him to be a basketball star. He moved on to his plan B: entrepreneurship and gambling. While he continued to sell drugs, wisely he was never a user. Eventually he moved from selling just weed to cocaine, a part of his life he now laments, when he reflects on the damage that drugs did to his mother, who eventually died of an overdose.
A chance meeting with basketball legend LeBron James put him on the path to founding his own company, Klutch Sports Group, which now represents LeBron James and many of the premier players in the NBA.
The choice of the word lucky in Paul’s biography is very insightful. The stars seemed to have aligned for him many times, but he also has a brilliant mind and an innate sense of entrepreneurship.
The book is filled with descriptions of Cleveland neighborhoods and the turf wars between various groups, all which Paul managed to skirt. One of the positive things that he demonstrates is the importance of the City of Cleveland recreational programs that thrived until recent years. There were baseball and football leagues and city recreation centers that provided training and role models for youths and recreation that kept youths occupied. The young athletes learned loyalty and teamwork. Unfortunately, many of the programs no longer exist.
While Paul deserves a lot of credit for his success, there must be a dark side that he does not discuss. You don’t live in that world without it. He learned the rules of the streets. He could be cruel, but he could also show compassion for others. He lived by the Kenny Rogers adage _ you got to know when to hold, know when to fold, know when to walk away, know when to run. But at times it seems implausible that a young boy could make hundreds of dollars in a dice game, taking money from grown men, and walk out alive and compete with adult drug dealers.
Paul’s story is one in a million. At times I wondered how much yeast he had put into some of the anecdotes. Although he eventually carried a gun, as an eight- and nine-year-old carrying huge sums of money, it’s amazing that he was not robbed or otherwise taken advantage of, which according to him happened just once. Could he really have kept thousands of dollars in a shoebox under his bed? Was he so sophisticated in his drug operation that he was able to skirt the police or were the Cleveland police so inept? According to him, in all the years of living a double life as a gambler and drug dealer, he had only one major encounter with the police, which did not result in his arrest.
By all rights, if you had seen Paul as a young child gambling and selling drugs, the anticipation would be that eventually he would be dead or in jail. But instead he landed on his feet on America’s red carpet. His story is the rare exception for inner-city youths looking for a way out of poverty.
When you are featured on Sixty Minutes; your book is a best seller on Amazon; you negotiate million-dollar contracts for NBA players; live in a Beverly Hills mansion; and you are romantically linked with international superstar Adele, there is not much to say. You can’t argue with success. And you can’t overlook the element of luck that made Rich Paul what he is today.
C. Ellen Connally is a retired judge of the Cleveland Municipal Court. From 2010 to 2014 she served as the President of the Cuyahoga County Council. An avid reader and student of American history, she is a former member of the Board of the Ohio History Connection, and past president of the Cleveland Civil War Round Table, and is currently vice president of the Cuyahoga County Soldiers and Sailors Monument Commission. She holds degrees from BGSU, CSU and is all but dissertation for a PhD from the University of Akron.
2 Responses to “BOOK REVIEW: Cleveland’s 21st-Century Horatio Alger by C. Ellen Connally”
Mel Maurer
He’s unfortunately just one of many millions. His road to success is not the one to be taken. I hope he preaches trhat.
Dru Thompson
Excellent review! Can’t wait to finish my copy.