Author, Steep: A Black Neurosurgeon’s Journey
From a struggling Boston neighborhood to the operating rooms of Middle America, Dr. Craig Yorke has lived a life that’s as inspiring as it is revealing.
This week on “Ira’s Everything Bagel,” Ira sits down with the author of Steep: A Black Neurosurgeon’s Journey, for a deeply personal and thought-provoking conversation about ambition, identity, and the hidden emotional cost of success.
Craig opens up about what first compelled him to write his book — a moment of “remedy” while browsing a bookstore shelf — and how his story reaches far beyond race. He reflects on growing up in the lower rungs of the Black middle class, shaped by parents wounded by racism in 1920s and ’30s Boston, and raised with the belief that rebellion was never an option.
We hear about “the fork in the road” that took him to Topeka, Kansas, a choice rooted as much in ethics as in opportunity, and how success in the world’s eyes came with armor he carried for decades. After writing this book, Craig says, “the armor is finally off.”
This isn’t simply a story about breaking barriers. It’s a moving exploration of resilience, healing, legacy, and what it truly means to chase — and redefine — the American Dream.
ABOUT:
Dr. Craig Yorke was born in Roxbury, Massachusetts. He received a BA from Harvard College in 1970 and an MD from Harvard Medical School in 1974. His parental directive insisted he avenge centuries of bigotry with a life of infinite success.
After a neurosurgical residency at the University of California at San Francisco, he and his wife Mary found their way to an unlikely destination. He practiced in Topeka, Kansas, for 25 years, wrestling with his history and the armored identity, it had imposed. He and Mary raised two boys: Zack who lives in Brooklyn and Chris who calls Seattle home.
Craig brews coffee for two each morning in the colonial home they’ve occupied for 33 years. He’s a credible violinist, having played the Bruch G Minor concerto with the Boston Pops at 17, and hits tennis balls with passion. Steep is his first book.