01Arts
The view from behind the camera
Steven Spielberg
Born 1946
Steven often watched childhood from its edges, unsure how to enter the room until filmmaking gave his intense observation a purpose.
Issue No. 01 Childhoods that shaped a life
Before they found where they fit, someone accepted and supported them for who they were.
True stories about the hard beginnings behind remarkable lives—and the ordinary, consequential ways families helped.
Read today’s story ↓66
Today’s story · Music
Hugh Masekela:
One bargain became lessons, a band, and years of adult follow-through
The first trumpet did not keep Hugh Masekela out of trouble. That part of the familiar origin story is easy to lose.
At St Peter's, a boarding school in Johannesburg, Masekela and his friend Stompie Manana broke rules, missed class, and went into town. Masekela later said they stole money there. He described himself as always in trouble with school authorities and remembered being warned that expulsion could leave him with nowhere else to go. The consequences were already substantial: he failed Form Two, and Stompie was not allowed back.
“If I can get a trumpet, I'll never bother anybody again.”— Hugh Masekela, recalling his promise to Trevor Huddleston in a 1988 Fresh Air interview
The story library
Different struggles.
Familiar acts of care.
Browse by world, then open a story to find the family action worth carrying forward.
02Business
A truce in the family argument
Bill Gates
Born 1955
Small for his age, socially awkward, and lost in ideas, Bill fought his parents so fiercely that they sought professional help.
03Music
Her uncle treated the dream as work
Dolly Parton
Born 1946
Dolly’s certainty that she would sing for a living arrived years before she had a real guitar, a stage, or a route into the music business.
04Science
Her mother listened before she scolded
Jane Goodall
1934–2025
Jane’s curiosity could absorb her so completely that the adults looking for her saw a missing child, while she was still waiting for an answer.
05Sport
His mother gave the loss somewhere to go
Michael Jordan
Born 1963
Michael’s fierce need to compete brought clashes at school and made a roster decision feel like a verdict on who he could become.
06Civic life
Her mother trusted her with the answer
Michelle Obama
Born 1964
Michelle was meticulous and cautious, a self-described box-checker who preferred the safe course and could feel another person’s judgment taking root as doubt.
07Arts
His mother asked for one of his own
Stephen King
Born 1947
At six, Stephen had begun filling pages with stories, but the first one he proudly brought to his mother was copied from a comic book.
08Business
Failure had a place at the table
Sara Blakely
Born 1971
Like many children, Sara wanted to make her parents proud; avoiding an uncertain attempt could seem safer than bringing home a bad result.
09Culture
The fire was part of the cooking
José Andrés
Born 1969
José wanted the visible work at the paella pan. Gathering wood and tending the fire felt like being kept outside the real cooking.
10Music
A different room for the same voice
Shakira
Born 1977
Her elementary-school choir rejected Shakira’s strong vibrato, and classmates turned the sound that came naturally to her into a joke.
11Science
When school stopped, his mother kept teaching
Thomas Edison
1847–1931
Thomas did so poorly in the conventional classroom that his formal schooling lasted only a short time. At home, his questions and experiments still needed somewhere to go.
12Business
A plan, a way back, and room to begin
Richard Branson
Born 1950
Richard was doing poorly in the classroom and had built much of his confidence around sport. When a knee injury at fourteen took sport away, the future offered by school looked even less likely to fit him.
13Arts
His mother stopped the slide and rebuilt the school day
Ryan Gosling
Born 1980
Ryan was bullied, friendless, falling behind academically, and repeatedly in trouble at school. Teachers kept advancing him even when he had not learned much of what the grade was meant to teach.
14Business
School after school closed its door. His parents kept looking
Paul Orfalea
Born 1947
Paul failed second grade, spent part of third grade in a remedial class, and was expelled repeatedly. He later remembered school as a place where he was ridiculed, shunned, and sometimes struck for not fitting its expectations.
15Civic life
She turned off the television and made the work weekly
Ben Carson
Born 1951
In fifth grade, Ben was failing almost every subject, believed he was stupid, and was known as “Dummy” by classmates who expected him to miss every question.
16Music
The cornet came only after he learned the steps before it
Louis Armstrong
1901–1971
Louis left school after fifth grade, worked on the streets of New Orleans, and was sent to a boys' home at eleven after firing a pistol into the air on New Year's Eve.
17Business
School after school failed him. His grandparents found better evidence
Gary Cohn
Born 1960
Gary was held back because he could not read, remained near the bottom of his class, and was expelled from elementary school. Teachers mistook hours of effort for laziness; his parents kept trying different schools.
18Civic life
Three years at one address, with school made nonnegotiable
J.D. Vance
Born 1984
By high school, J.D. had moved repeatedly, nearly failed his freshman year, skipped school, and ignored homework. Sophomore year was not going much better.
19Science
His school record was thin. His grandfather gave him a year of serious work
Alexander Graham Bell
1847–1922
Bell finished school at fifteen with an undistinguished record and little interest in most of the curriculum. His ability showed in private experiments, but formal education had not given it direction.
20Business
School kept sending him home. His parents kept working the problem
Steve Jobs
1955–2011
By third grade, Steve refused routine work, set off explosives in teachers' desks, and was repeatedly kicked out of school. After a grade acceleration, isolation and bullying pushed him toward quitting altogether.
21Sport
The rules kept failing. One coach kept returning him to the work
Babe Ruth
1895–1948
At seven, George Ruth was sent to St. Mary’s Industrial School, where he was listed as “incorrigible.” He remained impulsive, restless, and often in trouble; classrooms held little interest, and a later transfer with more freedom lasted only two months.
22Arts
Her mother brought home every discarded book she could find
Octavia E. Butler
1947–2006
Painfully shy, bullied, and slowed at school by dyslexia, Octavia Butler grew up believing she was ugly, helpless, and socially hopeless. Adults sometimes read her quietness and pace as proof that little was there.
23Culture
His parents gave him work that counted
Jamie Oliver
Born 1975
Reading-heavy classes left Jamie Oliver in the lowest and special-needs groups, with little chance to feel competent. He later said school made him feel disengaged, misunderstood, and dumb.
24Music
His mother kept the hour, and he made the music his own
Billy Joel
Born 1949
Billy Joel resisted formal lessons, was bullied for taking piano, and fought authority at school. Nightclub work eventually cost him a diploma. His mother kept paying for instruction and holding him to an hour of practice each day.
25Science
His father revised the plan; his uncle made the case
Charles Darwin
1809–1882
School felt blank to Charles Darwin. He left medicine without a degree and moved toward a second profession he had not chosen, while his father feared he would settle into the life of an idle sportsman.
26Civic life
She answered the letters and came when others did not
Winston Churchill
1874–1965
Sent to boarding school at seven, Winston spent years anxious, late, forgetful, and poorly matched to much of the work. He later failed the Sandhurst entrance examination twice while home often felt far away.
27Business
His mother changed the trade and kept returning
Milton Hershey
1857–1945
Frequent moves cut Milton Hershey’s schooling short. A printing apprenticeship ended in dismissal, two candy businesses failed, and by twenty-eight most relatives regarded him as an irresponsible drifter.
28Sport
His father quit baseball and built the ramps
Tony Hawk
Born 1968
Tony Hawk was kicked out of kindergarten and reacted to ordinary competition with explosive frustration. He resisted team sports and authority; when skateboarding finally held his focus, it made him an outcast at school and a target inside the sport.
29Arts
His father changed the classroom and kept the rigor
Ansel Adams
1902–1984
Restless, inattentive, and socially isolated, Ansel Adams moved through several private schools without finding a fit and never completed high school. Conventional education was breaking down before he reached his teens.
30Civic life
His family paid for the place he kept trying to leave
Wes Moore
Born 1978
After his father’s death, Wes Moore’s grades and behavior deteriorated. He stole, skipped class, fought, was caught by police, and came close to suspension. When his family sent him to military school, he ran away five times in four days.
31Culture
His mother changed the format and returned to the teachers
Max Brooks
Born 1972
Max Brooks studied for hours and still hoped merely to scrape by with a C. Teachers treated him as lazy, spoiled, or unwilling; he became the class clown and troublemaker while privately concluding that he was an idiot.
32Music
His parents trusted the work he chose for himself
Mick Fleetwood
Born 1947
Mick Fleetwood was overwhelmed by school, could not turn what he understood in conversation into written work, and left at fifteen. He had never played in a band. The one sustained piece of evidence in his favor was the drumming he had taught himself at home.
33Music
The musicians offered a stricter kind of belonging
Quincy Jones
1933–2024
Quincy Jones grew up running from gangs or with them. He stole, fought, carried a switchblade, and joined a break-in at eleven, convinced that gangsters were the adults who knew how to succeed.
34Sport
His mother drew the line; a coach filled the idle hours
Bo Jackson
Born 1962
Before Bo Jackson became a two-sport star, he stole, fought, bullied other children, and joined in a destructive episode serious enough to make reform school—and later prison—seem like plausible destinations.
35Sport
His coach kept the return route open
George Foreman
1949–2025
George Foreman dropped out in ninth grade and spent his teens fighting, mugging, and brawling. Even after he entered the Job Corps for a second chance, his violent outbursts put that chance at risk.
36Business
School kept grading the weakness. Her mother kept naming the strength
Barbara Corcoran
Born 1949
Barbara Corcoran spent years unable to read as her classmates did. Teachers called her stupid, her report cards filled with D’s, and by twenty-three she had moved through twenty-two jobs.
37Arts
His teacher began with words the boy already owned
James Earl Jones
1931–2024
For most of his school years, James Earl Jones rarely spoke beyond the people and animals closest to him. A severe stutter made conversation painful; by high school, silence had become his refuge even as he filled pages with poetry.
38Culture
His mother made trouble answer in writing
Ta-Nehisi Coates
Born 1975
Ta-Nehisi Coates fought, was suspended after confronting a teacher, and began his senior year with a 1.8 GPA. He later said he hated school and would have left high school if the choice had been his.
39Business
His father kept finding the next bottom rung
Simon Cowell
Born 1959
Simon Cowell said he was terrible at school, constantly in trouble, and had no ambitions beyond drinking and smoking. He left at sixteen, drifted through jobs, and sabotaged several interviews his father arranged.
40Arts
His brother interrupted the crowd. His teacher changed what counted
Akira Kurosawa
1910–1998
In his first year of primary school, Akira Kurosawa understood so little that his desk was moved away from the other children. At his next school he was mocked, bullied, and known for a full year by a nickname about how often he cried.
41Civic life
Her sister gave the argument a bed, a school, and work
Golda Meir
1898–1978
At fourteen, Golda Mabovitch was locked in an escalating fight with parents who considered eighth grade enough and were discussing marriage. She enrolled herself in high school, then left Milwaukee alone because she believed staying home would end the education she wanted.
42Music
Her father replaced the conservatory with a working stage
Tori Amos
Born 1963
Tori Amos entered the Peabody Conservatory at five and was dismissed at eleven. She could reproduce music by ear and was already composing, but she resisted sight-reading and the classical route that adults had expected her talent to follow.
43Arts
Her teacher kept making the next class possible
Misty Copeland
Born 1982
Misty Copeland was so shy at thirteen that she spent weeks hiding in the bleachers instead of joining a free ballet class. Once training began, the schedule and distance collided with an unsettled home life, and adult conflict over who would guide her nearly ended the path.
44Sport
His brother would not let one nervous trial decide
Sachin Tendulkar
Born 1973
Before cricket gave his intensity a place to go, Sachin Tendulkar was a relentlessly active, disruptive child whose pranks exhausted his family and sometimes crossed into aggression. Then his first formal cricket trial went so badly that the coach advised him to return when he was older.
45Science
A weekly dinner guest kept his real education moving
Albert Einstein
1879–1955
Albert Einstein was not a failing mathematics student. He earned generally good grades and excelled in mathematics, but his independent reading collided with a school built around memorization and obedience. At fifteen he left without a diploma; at sixteen he failed the broad entrance examination for the Zurich Polytechnic.
46Business
His parents made the circuits wait for the report card
Akio Morita
1921–1999
Akio Morita was expected to become the fifteenth-generation head of his family’s sake business. Instead, electronics absorbed nearly all his after-school time. He almost flunked out, his mother was repeatedly called to school, and his overall grades were so poor that his plan to enter a demanding science program surprised both teachers and parents.
47Music
Her mother and aunt turned an argument into auditions
Celia Cruz
1925–2003
Celia Cruz wanted to sing professionally, but her father considered popular music an unsafe, disreputable life for a young woman and insisted that she become a teacher. Cruz entered teacher training even as she kept competing on radio and performing at neighborhood dances.
48Sport
Four adults joined a tennis opportunity to a whole-life plan
Althea Gibson
1927–2003
By thirteen, Althea Gibson had left school and was spending much of her time roaming Harlem, fighting, and playing street sports. Tennis exposed formidable ability, but coaches still saw an undisciplined, volatile teenager who wanted to fight opponents when she began to lose.
49Culture
His guardian replaced a punishing school with private study
Hans Christian Andersen
1805–1875
At fourteen, Hans Christian Andersen left home convinced he could become a stage artist. Three years of rejection left him without a viable role: his voice changed, his acting and dancing failed to persuade the Royal Theatre, a submitted tragedy was judged unusable for the stage, and he lacked the education to turn imagination into finished work.
50Civic life
Her aunts changed the setting. Her teacher made courage into practice
Eleanor Roosevelt
1884–1962
By fifteen, Eleanor Roosevelt had spent years painfully shy and lonely in adult households, educated by private tutors and convinced that her serious manner and appearance set her apart. She had material security, but little practice among peers and almost no confidence in her own judgment.
51Business
His apprenticeship made responsibility harder one job at a time
Soichiro Honda
1906–1991
Soichiro Honda performed poorly at school. Machines held his attention, but he found reading and writing tedious, slipped away to daydream, and did badly in examinations. He left at fifteen with only an elementary education and no conventional route into engineering.
52Arts
His grandparents supplied the materials. A teacher watched for the clue
Frank Gehry
1929–2025
Frank Gehry reached Los Angeles at seventeen or eighteen with interests but no direction and little confidence that he would find one. He drove a delivery truck while sampling night classes; his father had written him off as a dreamer, his mother compared him with more successful sons, and Gehry said he never measured up.
53Culture
Her brother moved the contest into school. Her parents kept the route open
Ismat Chughtai
1915–1991
Ismat Chughtai rejected the domestic role expected of her, fought her brothers for the same freedoms, and was reprimanded for behavior her family saw as wilful and troublesome. When relatives moved to stop her education and arrange a marriage, she threatened to run away rather than lose the chance to support herself.
54Sport
He waived the fee, held the standard, and learned when not to push head-on
Dawn Fraser
Born 1937
Dawn Fraser left school at fourteen after long truancy, smoked as a young teenager, and met authority with open defiance. Swimming officials had already disqualified her for alleged professionalism, and her first response to coach Harry Gallagher was to make clear that he would not control her.
55Music
His father ended the search, then brought the right teacher within reach
Bhimsen Joshi
1922–2011
By eleven, Bhimsen Joshi's pursuit of music had outrun every safe boundary around it. He repeatedly wandered away after bands, neglected school, and finally left home alone without money or a ticket. For roughly three years he moved among North Indian music centers looking for a teacher, sometimes working for food and never finding one stable course of training.
56Science
His schoolmaster watched the work, waived the fee, and argued for his return
Isaac Newton
1642–1727
Isaac Newton first ranked near the bottom at school and gave more attention to mechanical models than to assigned texts. He later rose to the top, but at almost seventeen he was withdrawn to manage his family's estate. For about nine months he repeatedly abandoned market errands and farm work for books and experiments, forgot meals, and convinced the household that he was unfit for its expected future.
57Arts
Her grandmother refused the label. Mrs. Flowers made one voice-sized invitation
Maya Angelou
1928–2014
After sexual violence at seven or eight and the killing of the man who had attacked her, Maya Angelou believed that naming him had made her voice deadly. She stopped speaking to almost everyone for roughly five years. She read, memorized poetry, and wrote answers on a tablet, while some people mistook her silence for a lack of intelligence.
58Culture
His parents taught touch as literacy. His director let the students test a better code
Louis Braille
1809–1852
Louis Braille could master lessons he heard, but the reading system at his Paris school forced a fingertip to trace the shapes of printed letters. The books were slow and difficult to read, and students could not write them by hand. A promising twelve-dot alternative let them make their own marks, but its characters were too tall for one fingertip and its phonetic code could not fully record spelling or punctuation.
59Science
Her mother stopped the gender rules. Her father reversed the college veto
Barbara McClintock
1902–1992
Barbara McClintock described herself as an odd, self-contained child who preferred solitary thought, science, skating, and street games to the future prescribed for girls. Her parents often protected that independence. But after high school, with little money and her father away, her mother blocked college because she feared higher education would make a daughter unmarriageable. Barbara took an office job and kept learning at the library instead.
60Sport
Her mother made the long trip. Her siblings made treatment a household practice
Wilma Rudolph
1940–1994
Wilma Rudolph was repeatedly ill as a small child, and polio left her left leg partly paralyzed. Segregation placed appropriate medical care far from her Tennessee home. She wore a brace, missed ordinary play, and depended on a demanding treatment routine that no child—or one exhausted parent—could carry alone.
61Culture
His family stopped insisting on a school fit. They kept the education serious
Rabindranath Tagore
1861–1941
Rabindranath Tagore moved through school after school without settling. At one he spent breaks alone by a window, counting the years he might have to endure. He refused to answer a teacher he despised, sat at the bottom of the class, and later played truant. Yet outside the classroom he read, imagined, wrote, and responded intensely to music, nature, and conversation.
62Arts
Her mother brought her home without closing the door. The next summer, she arranged a safer return
Lucille Ball
1911–1989
Lucille Ball wanted a stage career, but in her mid-teens she was so shy at a Manhattan dramatic school that she hid behind the scenery. She returned home after six weeks; teachers judged her untalented. On her next New York try, a showgirl rehearsal dismissed her after two weeks, and years of unsteady modeling and minor roles followed.
63Business
His father treated the move as context, the behavior as a problem, and the paper route as a responsibility worth preserving
Warren Buffett
Born 1930
After his family moved from Omaha to Washington when he was twelve, Warren Buffett became deeply homesick and rebellious. He lost interest in school, tormented teachers, was removed from a class, stole with friends, ran away, and received disastrous grades—even while managing a demanding newspaper business before dawn.
64Sport
His father spent years making the sport possible, then refused to choose it for him
Apolo Anton Ohno
Born 1982
At fourteen, Apolo Anton Ohno became the youngest U.S. short-track champion. Months later, the gifted teenager had stopped training seriously, was staying out with older friends, and arrived at the Olympic trials overweight and unprepared. He finished last among sixteen skaters and no longer knew whether the ambition attached to his name was actually his.
65Science
Her schools lowered the ceiling. Her father kept bringing university, books, and science into view
Maggie Aderin-Pocock
Born 1968
Maggie Aderin-Pocock moved through thirteen schools before eighteen. Reading and writing were difficult because of dyslexia that was not recognized at school; she was put in remedial classes, expected to be slow, and became disillusioned enough to hide at the back and play the class clown. She loved space, but conventional academic success looked remote even to some of her teachers.
About Misfit Years
An editorial project about childhood, struggle, and the people who kept showing up. Stories are condensed from public biographies and interviews; sensitive experiences deserve nuance beyond these short summaries.