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MD State Sen. Cory McCray's 'The Apprenticeship that Saved My Life'

As a teen-ager, Cory McCray was on a path of guns and drug-dealing until he connected with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and became an apprentice. On Sept. 30, State Sen. Cory McCray will publish 'The Apprenticeship that Saved My Life: Guidebook to Navigating the Earn-While-You-Learn Opportunity of a Lifetime.' Photo: Morgan James Publishing
As a teen-ager, Cory McCray was on a path of guns and drug-dealing until he connected with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and became an apprentice. On Sept. 30, State Sen. Cory McCray will publish 'The Apprenticeship that Saved My Life: Guidebook to Navigating the Earn-While-You-Learn Opportunity of a Lifetime.' Photo: Morgan James Publishing

If you’ve heard of Cory McCray, you’ve most likely picked up that he’s a state senator, from East Baltimore. And maybe you’ve also been told-- and thought: “Huh, that’s kinda surprising ..” -- that McCray is an electrician. What you may not have heard is that a week before his 18th birthday he was charged as an adult with possession of multiple firearms and distribution of narcotics. And that was far from his first arrest.
How all this ties together is the gripping plot of the book McCray is publishing at the end of the month: 'The Apprenticeship that Saved My Life: Guidebook to Navigating the Earn-While-You-Learn Opportunity of a Lifetime.' We talk with Sen. McCray about his book.

Sen. McCray will be featured at the Baltimore Book festival 6pm Saturday, presented by Urban Reads, and 1pm on Sunday, presented by the Ivy Bookshop. More info here.

Sheilah Kast is the host of On The Record, Monday-Friday, 9:30-10:00 am.
Melissa Gerr is a Senior Producer for On the Record. She started in public media at Twin Cities Public Television in St. Paul, Minn., where she is from, and then worked as a field producer for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland. She made the jump to audio-lover in Baltimore as a digital media editor at Mid-Atlantic Media and Laureate Education, Inc. and as a field producer for "Out of the Blocks." Her beat is typically the off-beat with an emphasis on science, culture and things that make you say, 'Wait, what?'