- [Narrator] Funding for this edition of One-On-One with Steve Adubato has been provided by PSEG Foundation.

NJM Insurance Group.

Serving New Jersey’s drivers, homeowners and business owners for more than 100 years.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Education Association.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Kean University.

Where Cougars climb higher.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

And by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Making a difference.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

Keeping communities informed and connected.

And by ROI-NJ.

Informing and connecting businesses in New Jersey.

- This is One-On-One.

- I'm an equal American just like you are.

- The way we change Presidents in this country is by voting.

- A quartet is already a jawn, it’s just The New Jawn.

- January 6th was not some sort of violent, crazy outlier.

- I don't care how good you are or how good you think you are, there is always something to learn.

- I mean what other country sends comedians over to embedded military to make them feel better.

- People call me 'cause they feel nobody's paying attention.

_ It’s not all about memorizing and getting information, it’s what you do with that information.

- (slowly) Start talking right now.

- That's a good question, high five.

(upbeat music) - Hi everyone, Steve Adubato.

This is "Remember Them."

That is Jacqui Tricarico, our co-anchor.

Jacqui, today we do an entire half hour on an extraordinary young man who died, who was from Newark, who died tragically, who made a difference in his very short life.

The book cover of "The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace," a brilliant young man who left Newark for the Ivy League.

The interview you're gonna see was, the first one is with Jeff Hobbs, who wrote this book, that is the book that in fact turned into the movie, the film about Rob Peace.

And in the second interview, we'll interview Father Edwin Leahy, the headmaster at St. Benedict's Prep.

That was where Rob Peace went to school, changed his life, then went back to teach.

But Rob Peace was an extraordinary young man who died way too young.

Talk to folks a little bit Jacqui, about why we remember Rob Peace.

- It's an interesting story that Jeff Hobbs brought to light.

He was his roommate at Yale University and got to know Rob in a certain aspect of his life.

But after he tragically was killed in Newark, years later, Jeff decided to learn more about his friend and what his life was like before he got to Yale University.

- He didn't know that whole other life in the streets, engaged in drug dealing and violence.

Pick it up, Jacqui.

- Yeah, and Jeff knew a little bit.

He knew some things that were going on in the dorm room and stuff like that, but he decided to start talking to his family and his friends back in Newark, especially his mom, and just learning more about this young man and his life and what led to these tragic events.

He wrote this book and it was picked up by a few different people that wanted to do a movie about it.

And that's where a lot of the press is coming from.

Recently, the movie was released this past August, 2024.

Sundance Film Festival, was shown there, and got a lot of attention.

So, you know, we get to talk to Jeff, a little bit more personal story as well as, like you said, Father Ed, the young man that he knew in Newark where he went to St. Benedict's Prep, his mom worked so hard to save up the money so her son could go there and make a better life for himself.

And in the movie, Michael Kelly, the actor Michael Kelly from "House of Cards," he plays Father Ed.

- But also, Rob Peace's mom in the film is played by the great Mary J. Blige.

- Yep.

- But you know, beyond the fabulous actors who are in the film, I mean, it is a short and tragic life, of Rob Peace.

I mean, so talented, so smart, so much grit to come from what he came from in the streets of Newark in a poor neighborhood, in a drug infested, violent, crime-ridden neighborhood to go to Yale, to graduate.

- And so many people after he, yeah, after he left Yale, so many people said, "Don't come back."

Family, friends said, "Don't come back here."

But he wanted to, he wanted to go back.

- To Newark?

- In Newark, give back, teach at St. Benedict's.

Give back to that community.

And that's what he was passionate about.

- It's a tragic story.

It's an important story.

And so go get the book about Rob Peace, the short and tragic life of Rob Peace, but also check out the film.

But check out this first conversation with the person who wrote the book, the author Jeff Hobbs.

And the second half you'll see our great friend, father Edwin Leahy, who's been the headmaster of St. Benedict's Prep since 1973 and knew Rob very well.

And it's important that we remember Rob Peace, as young as he was, the impact he had, and the tale that all of us can learn from his life, his legacy, and his tragic death.

Let's check it out.

- So that's 22.5 times two.

- Uh huh.

- 45 plus 11.25 is 56.25.

Ah, damn.

Jam be seven years old, smarter than your old man.

(engine knocking) - All right, we can walk to my place from here.

(door clicks) Go on.

(door thuds) - [Rob] That was the last day I remember being a child.

(gunshots resound) (glass shatters) (dramatic music) - I did not commit this crime.

- [Jury Foreperson] The jury finds the defendant, Robert E. Douglas, guilty.

- I will take care of everything, I promise.

- You're going to college.

The best thing you can do for your daddy is to keep being brilliant.

(dramatic music) You got into Yale.

(Rob whooping) - We're now joined by Jeff Hobbs, author of the book over my left shoulder, "The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League."

Jeff, good to see you.

- Thank you so much, Steve.

I'm glad to see you too.

- Who was Robert Peace other than how my colleague Jacqui Tricarico and I introduced him leading to this, and why is his life, his legacy, and his death so significant to you as his former roommate at Yale?

- Well, Rob, to me, as you said, he was my roommate for four years in college, and that just meant that most of our time was spent sitting around in a very small dorm room talking about nothing that important, mostly sports and food and girls and that sort of thing.

And he'd helped me out a lot in all respects.

But I think what made Rob important and what led to writing a book about him to do with this just vast orbit, this vast constellation of people who cared about him and would've done anything to help him and maybe couldn't because he wouldn't let them.

And so what what seems important about is his life is that if someone you care about is struggling, just, you know, ask and ask what's going on.

- So he comes out of Newark, by the way, born in East Orange, connected to Newark.

He's at St. Benedict's Prep, and we've done so many interviews and conversations with Father Edwin Leahy, the headmaster there, who is featured in a film that is based on the book, because Father Edwin played a strong and important part in Robert Peace's life.

So he's at Yale, he's studying science, microbiology.

He is apparently a good student and he's in the Ivy League, but he has another life, and the life is on the streets in Newark.

His life is connected to drugs and ultimately, which led to his death that we'll talk about.

To what degree did you see and understand, Jeff, that Robert Peace had a very different life as we all do outside of our college dorms, but incredibly different and the dichotomy couldn't be more stark and scary.

- Sure, and that is another part of writing the book had to do with when he died and people were characterizing Rob as two separate individuals, this guy who went to Yale and studied molecular biophysics and biochemistry.

Straight A student.

About as easy as it sounds.

And was captain of the water polo team in high school and college.

Yeah, a guy who sold drugs back home and in college out of our dorm room.

He wasn't quiet about it.

- He did.

- Uh-huh.

- Was it primarily marijuana?

- Yeah, it was all marijuana.

And so, you know, this is back in the 2000, 2001, 2002.

And so, yeah, to me, you know, I was an athlete and not quite a part of that circle, but it meant a lot of people were just coming through the room and hanging out, and maybe people who fell out of place at Yale.

And Rob was a comfort to them.

And they had this group and, you know, selling drugs didn't seem like the smartest thing, but it seemed like something he could do and maybe needed to do because he was poor.

And it seemed, since we're talking about marijuana and the college dorm, it seemed safe.

- He leaves Yale he chooses to go back and teach at St. Benedict's Prep where he had gone to school, could have gone off to make a ton of money, legitimately in a very different life.

Why do you think he went back to St. Benedict's to teach in a school that meant so much to him?

- Now, that's a really good question, and it's a question you mentioned Father Edwin Leahy who's been the head master there a long time and is an amazing person, and also was an incredible resource when I was writing this book and especially writing the aspects of Rob's life that were not evident in college.

And one of those effects was his very intense connection to his home, Orange, New Jersey, his mother's home, his high school, a place where he truly blossomed as a young man and drew him back.

And so, you know, when I first was learning about this and having conversations with Father Edwin, it seemed kind of easy to fit Rob into this role of, you know, someone who wanted to come back and give back to people and the place he'd come from.

But it seemed more complicated.

Father Edwin specifically said that Rob really struggled with being there, and as you said, this potential he had to make a lot more money and maybe do quote, unquote, bigger things for him that would probably have meant going to grad school and following path as toward medicine academia.

And yeah, Father Edwin in very poignant conversations has said he never could quite figure out what the struggle was and to what degree it involved Rob's father who was in prison.

- Can we talk about that?

I'm sorry to interrupt.

- Those years in prison- - Jeff, sorry for interrupting.

- Yeah.

- I wanna talk about his mom Jackie mattered greatly and we'll talk about Jackie in a second, but Rob's father Skeet?

- Yeah, was in prison for life when Rob was seven years old.

In all of your research in writing this book, Jeff, what is your sense and how could you even imagine the impact it had on this boy at seven years of age, whose father goes away?

And as I understand from the book, Rob fought to get his father out because he believed in his father's innocence and science was the way to prove that, whether it be through DNA or whatever.

Question, do you ever, first, how much did Rob talk about his father when at Yale being in prison for homicide?

- Yeah, it was a part of his life that Rob spoke very little about with us at school, including teammates and, you know, people who were more a part of his kind of inner circle and girlfriends.

He was very intensely private about his father.

And I mean, we knew where his father was and for instance, this was before we all had cell phones, and so his father would call the dorm room from jail, and so I would answer the phone and talk to him.

He was really gracious, would leave a message if Rob wasn't there.

And a couple of times it might have come up.

It was clear Rob did not want to talk about it, didn't want to talk about the whys, the details.

He certainly didn't wanna talk about the impact it had on him emotionally.

And again, going back to my very first point, you know, since it felt uncomfortable, it was very easy for people, including people he grew up with, who knew him better than anybody, including people in his own family to just not ask and figure that Rob was doing really well at school and that he must have processed it.

- Rob is killed in a drug deal, correct?

- Yes.

- What year?

- 2011.

Over 10 years.

- Were you surprised?

- I was.

Absolutely, and I didn't receive a lot of details right away.

I just got a message from an old friend who had visited us in college who said that Rob died violently and that was it.

Then I remember our, yeah, I was sort of brushing my teeth with trying not to wake up my daughter at the time.

And then as more details came out, I guess what was surprising was that he died in a chaotic act of violence that remains unsolved to this day.

But I guess what was surprising was the apparent, the pain of it and the pointlessness of it.

why does Robert Peace's life and his death matter so much?

- You know, I think about this on two levels, just because, in larger groups and talking about kind of where we are as a country and education structures and all of that, those big topics.

But for me personally, as a friend and also as a storyteller at my vocation, what is important is that Rob was a very present friend to everybody and he listened, and my problems were small.

Rob's problems were very great, but he listened and he did this for everybody.

And I guess the point for me is when you know someone like this to carry them with you and take care of them.

As his mom said, when I first sat down with his mom to talk about maybe telling some stories about her son, she knew that he had influenced a lot of people in school and as a educator.

And she thought that it would be nice for him to continue influencing people and, you know, as he did as a friend, just showing us how to he better to each other.

I think what's important about his life.

- Jeff Hobbs, author of "The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League."

After this will be joined by Father Edwin Leahy, who we've mentioned several times, will share his perspective on Robert Peace, his time at St. Benedict's, and again, why his life and his tragic death still matters.

Jeff, thank you so much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you, Steve.

It means an awful lot.

Appreciate it.

- Thank you.

Your book means an awful lot as well.

I'm Steve Adubato.

Stay with us, we'll be right back.

- [Narrator] To watch more One on One with Steve Adubato find us online and follow us on Social media.

- We're now joined by our good friend Father Edwin Leahy, Headmaster at St. Benedicts Prep, a recent inductee of New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Father Ed, does it feel any different to be in the Hall of Fame?

- No, it doesn't feel any different at all.

In the every day it doesn't feel any different.

- Did you take a vow that you would not allow your ego to take over 'cause I did not take that one.

- (both laughing) Leave that alone.

We saw Jeff Hobbs earlier talking about Rob Peace.

You knew him.

You're featured in the film, by the way.

Who the heck plays it?

Michael Kelly plays you.

- Michael Kelly.

- Okay, you said you didn't need to see the film 'cause you lived it.

Who was Rob Peace, and why does Rob's legacy matter even more today?

- Rob was a very, very bright guy who was horribly conflicted over his bad situation.

I mean, we see dozens and dozens and dozens of kids like this all the time.

The best example I can give you of that conflict was Rob had graduated from here, graduated from Yale, and came back here to teach and he was helping his coach, Dr. Cassidy coach the water polo and the swimming team and one day one of the kids was not at practice.

So he asked for where so and so was and the response came back, he's over at the counseling center and Rob looked Cassidy and he said, "I wish I had done that when I was here."

Because he really never resolved the anger that he had relative to his dad's situation.

He was always trying to work to get his dad be able to be out of prison to get his dad.

Yeah, it was always this constant struggle for him and it just kind of led him down roads that were self-destructive.

- Father, lemme ask you this Father Ed.

What did you see in Rob when he was there as a student?

What did you see in him?

Later on in the drug stuff, we already documented all that.

What did you see in him?

- He was a very, very, very interesting leader 'cause he was the senior group leader his senior year in 1997-98.

And he rarely spoke (indistinct) meeting.

Most senior group leaders are really the prominent person in the meeting call it to order or dismiss the school at the end of the meeting.

And if he has anything to say to the school.

Rob rarely spoke.

He had the assistant group leaders that worked with him do all of the talking so that when he did speak, everybody stopped and listened.

He was that kind of a guy that would share leadership voice of the thing.

And it actually amplified, interestingly, his voice because on a few times when he did have to speak that everybody paid attention to him.

- Lemme try this, the movie, the film about Rob that I did see.

To what degree do you believe the discussion about Rob and the film about Rob has resonated with your students today who are disproportionately black and Hispanic?

- Yeah, in terms of kids seeing the movie, I've heard very little conversation.

Alumni talk about it, alumni talk about it and I'll get emails or texts after people have watched it, but I've heard very little from the kids talking about it.

Why that is, I'm not sure.

Maybe they've watched it and just haven't because they're doing other things or whatever.

And maybe other people have heard it here, but very little has come across my day-to-day operations with the kids.

- When Rob died, what emotions, reaction did you have?

- Oh, you know, first of all, he was buried from here.

It's not the first time I've had to bury one of our guys, right So it just makes you sick because... and his is such a tragic character because he was so enormously talented.

Bright, a good athlete.

He was good at relating to people and leading people.

So it was just horrible.

And I mean, was it shocking?

No, because I mean, Rob was struggling when he was here on the faculty.

He was struggling with this stuff and we talked - - Did you know?

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Father did you know that he was struggling?

- It was just a battle for him, right and he... As I say, we see it over and over and over again, Steve, with the effect of an absent parent on some... Primary relationship, your mother and your father, if that relationship is fractured, damaged, it does horribly destructive things to people.

And if you don't do anything, you can recover from it.

You have to do something about it and engage in conversation about it.

And that's what Rob wouldn't do.

Ultimately what I think was his demise and the fact that he never addressed that in a way that could help him heal and also probably help him forgive in one sense, not only his dad, but all the stuff that, Rob was the kind of guy who's probably angry at the situations that put his father in prison as well, right?

So all of those things, if you don't talk about them, they'll eat you up.

- His mom mattered.

His mom played by Mary J. Blige in the movie.

She mattered greatly.

- Huge.

- Huge.

- Enormously.

Yes, in fact, Jeff was very good about it, Jeff Hobbs and some of Rob's classmates are on the faculty here now.

So they made sure if Jeff was coming in here to talk, that she knew it and sometimes she was here to for it.

So yeah, she was very important to him.

And therefore in this whole process, she was very important.

- To Father Ed, thank you.

To Jeff Hobbs, thank you.

Jeff's book, the film, check it out.

Rob Peace, important person, died way too young, tragic, but made a difference.

Conflicted, complex.

His father's piece of this or his relationship with his father, his father's situation, all of it matters.

Thank you Father Edwin.

Good to see you my friend.

- Okay, Steve.

Good to see you.

Thank you for having me.

- You got it I'm Steve Adubato for Jacqui Tricarico and our entire team at "Remember Them" and "One-on-On" we thank you for watching.

We'll see you next time.

- [Narrator] One-On-One with Steve Adubato is a production of the Caucus Educational Corporation.

Funding has been provided by PSEG Foundation.

NJM Insurance Group.

Community FoodBank of New Jersey.

The New Jersey Education Association.

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.

Kean University.

New Jersey Sharing Network.

And by The Russell Berrie Foundation.

Promotional support provided by NJ.Com.

And by ROI-NJ.

NJM Insurance Group has been serving New Jersey businesses for over a century.

As part of the Garden State, we help companies keep their vehicles on the road, employees on the job and projects on track, working to protect employees from illness and injury, to keep goods and services moving across the state.

We're proud to be part of New Jersey.

NJM, we've got New Jersey covered.