Curley Grad Shares His Story

No one would have imagined that the CBS News Correspondent hosting 60 Minutes that Sunday was functionally illiterate at the age of twelve and stuttered until he was twenty.   For Byron Pitts, graduate of St. Katherine’s School and member of Curley’s Class of 1978, his struggle to overcome those obstacles was a story that needed to be told.

     So Byron told his story in his recently released book  Step Out On Nothing:  How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges  (St. Martin’s Press, 2009.)  It is an inspiring story, written in an easy storyteller’s style, about how a kid from East Baltimore is challenged in a variety of ways and finds encouragement and support in the people God sends into his life and how he sets his mind to be a football player.  Byron did play football in high school and college, but it was his victory over words, both written and spoken, which led him to his vocation. 

     Byron writes with obvious gratitude about his education at Curley, his friends and experiences and the growth that he achieved.   He has returned to Curley as a commencement speaker and to be the on-camera host of a video about himself and senior Pat Diamond, and the difference a Curley education made in his life.  (To view the video, click HERE.) 

    In promoting his book, and getting his message out that people can overcome their obstacles with faith and the people God sends their way,  Byron has appeared recently on the CBS Early Show with Harry Smith. He was also interviewed by Marty Bass on WJZ-TV.  In both interviews, he mentions Archbishop Curley High School.  To view those interviews, click on the links.

     At Curley we are planning to celebrate the story of Byron Pitts ’78 in an upcoming event.  Details are being planned at this time.   We congratulate him for the courage to tell his story, confident that others will draw hope from his struggle and success.