What does it mean to truly face down one of the biggest fears in your life? John Vercher went through much of his life being scared, until he couldn’t take it anymore. Following years of training and decades after he was weaned on 1980s-era martial arts theater programs on television, Vercher stepped inside the cage for a mixed martial arts fight during his mid 30s, seeking the answer to one question: Can I do something in the face of my fear?

More than a decade later Vercher is a father of two young sons and the author of a pair of acclaimed novels, now facing a new set of fears as a father. As the son of an African American father and a white mother, he’s spent years mastering how to code switch and successfully fit in among different groups of people, but how much will his own mixed-race sons honor their Black roots? And how does he teach them to face a frightening world with their own sense of courage? Vercher’s second book, After The Lights Go Out, was released in 2022. 

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