Neal C. Lemery, JD, is a native of rural Tillamook County, Oregon, and a fourth-generation Oregonian. He has served as Tillamook County justice of the peace, as a circuit court judge in three counties, as a municipal judge in five cities, and as a juvenile alternative court judge. He has also served as the Tillamook County district attorney, where he implemented child support collection and criminal victims’ assistance programs.
A dedicated community organizer, he has served as president of the Oregon YMCAs, the Tillamook Bay Community College Foundation, and the Oregon Justices of the Peace Association. Now retired, he continues to mentor young men incarcerated in a local prison. Lemery and his wife have been foster parents to several boys. Lemery wrote his first book, Mentoring Boys to Men: Climbing Their Own Mountains, to share his experiences and to encourage others to pay attention to the plight of a lost generation of young men.
His second book, Homegrown Tomatoes: Essays and Musings From My Garden, continues his exploration in our culture's raising of youth to be productive adults, and how gardening and mentoring go hand in hand.
Lemery is the second place winner of the 2016 John Duncan writing contest, for a story from his first book, Mentoring Boys to Men.
He is a master gardener, and on Fridays, he can be found behind prison walls tending a garden with a group of wonderful and inquisitive young men.
Read Neal's blog at https://neallemery.com/blog/
See my video on mentoring and writing. https://tctv.viebit.com/#38c336a34a34c905494d4b2043464ce4
Watch one of my former mentees talk about changing his life and his work as a mentor and juvenile probation officer now. https://youtu.be/lBZeyuUC7dI
