Lincoln “Doc” Diuguid was a grandson of slaves who, more than once in his 97-year life, ran headlong into the racism of his own time. Undeterred, he earned a doctorate in organic chemistry, worked as a researcher and inventor at his Du-Good Chemical Laboratories & Manufacturers in St. Louis and, most notably, became an anchor of a community in which African Americans could thrive.

Diuguid’s son, former Kansas City Star columnist and editorial board member Lewis Diuguid, pays tribute in his book Our Fathers, looking at his father’s pursuit of the American dream and devotion to helping black youths and families in his segregated neighborhood. The younger Diuguid discusses the book, its snapshot of life on one city block in St. Louis in the mid-20th century, and the lessons it contains about how to reverse urban despair.