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Steep: A Black Neurosurgeon's Journey
An American OdysseyA kid from Boston's ghetto rises to become a neurosurgeon in Middle America. Fine. But this story is less about bigotry than the armor needed to navigate it – how that armor shrinks us and our world. It looks past villains and victims, embracing History’s power, aiming to loosen its grip. Steep works first as an adjective, but also as a verb.
Praise for STEEP
“This moving memoir recounts Craig Yorke’s steep climb from the poorest neighborhoods of Boston to the University of California San Francisco’s world-renowned neurosurgical program. A gifted violinist who might have filled concert halls instead of operating rooms, he chose to exercise his virtuosity in caring for patients with neurosurgical disease. Steep offers a rare window into the emotional and ethical terrain of a life spent on the front lines of life and death. Steep sands alongside the best medical memoirs—riveting, profound, and unforgettable.”
-Dr. Paul Camarata
Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery and Chair, Neurosurgery, The University of Kansas Medical Center
“Written with the deftness of a brain surgeon and the ear of a concert violinist, Steep is the unforgettably moving story of one man’s life and times. But it is also a wise and courageous commentary on our time.”
-Cyrus Console-Soican, Ph.D.
Professor of Liberal Arts, Kansas City Art Institute
“…a fascinating memoir by a distinguished Black neurosurgeon. But it is more than that; it’s also evidence that professional achievement along with self-respect can bolster one’s “armor” against racist condescension. A Boston Latin School and Harvard University graduate who received his surgical training in San Francisco, Dr. Yorke moved to Topeka, Kansas, to seize the opportunity to work with the renowned Menninger Foundation and to meet the community’s need for a neurosurgeon. Dr. Yorke is a masterful storyteller.”
-Bill Tuttle
Professor Emeritus of American Studies at the University of Kansas and the author of several books, notably including “Daddy’s Gone to War”: The Second World War in the Lives of America’s Children
“…skillfully woven into the times and places it describes, Steep takes the reader on a fascinating journey through diverse cultures and a transformative period in American history. His perspective is thoughtful and insightful. Ultimately, it’s the compelling story of one person’s life that illuminates a shared human experience of the times. Once I picked this book up, I didn’t want to put it down.”
-Bryan Welch
Author of Beautiful and Building the World We Want -
“Using honest lessons gleaned at both the kitchen table and in the operating room, Dr. Yorke reflects on a life shaped by determination and choices made both for him and by him. In this compelling memoir, he shares powerful stories—offering a heartfelt look at the challenges and triumphs that define a life dedicated to healing.”
-Marsha Pope
President Topeka Community Foundation
“Steep is no less a profound meditation on the toll it takes to stand before the steep wall of lowering historical forces and the determination, discipline, and drive necessary in scaling it.
Praise for STEEP
“This moving memoir recounts Craig Yorke’s steep climb from the poorest neighborhoods of Boston to the University of California San Francisco’s world-renowned neurosurgical program. A gifted violinist who might have filled concert halls instead of operating rooms, he chose to exercise his virtuosity in caring for patients with neurosurgical disease. Steep offers a rare window into the emotional and ethical terrain of a life spent on the front lines of life and death. Steep sands alongside the best medical memoirs—riveting, profound, and unforgettable.”
-Dr. Paul Camarata
Chairman, Department of Neurosurgery and Chair, Neurosurgery, The University of Kansas Medical Center
“Written with the deftness of a brain surgeon and the ear of a concert violinist, Steep is the unforgettably moving story of one man’s life and times. But it is also a wise and courageous commentary on our time.”
-Cyrus Console-Soican, Ph.D.
Professor of Liberal Arts, Kansas City Art Institute
“…a fascinating memoir by a distinguished Black neurosurgeon. But it is more than that; it’s also evidence that professional achievement along with self-respect can bolster one’s “armor” against racist condescension. A Boston Latin School and Harvard University graduate who received his surgical training in San Francisco, Dr. Yorke moved to Topeka, Kansas, to seize the opportunity to work with the renowned Menninger Foundation and to meet the community’s need for a neurosurgeon. Dr. Yorke is a masterful storyteller.”
-Bill Tuttle
Professor Emeritus of American Studies at the University of Kansas and the author of several books, notably including “Daddy’s Gone to War”: The Second World War in the Lives of America’s Children
“…skillfully woven into the times and places it describes, Steep takes the reader on a fascinating journey through diverse cultures and a transformative period in American history. His perspective is thoughtful and insightful. Ultimately, it’s the compelling story of one person’s life that illuminates a shared human experience of the times. Once I picked this book up, I didn’t want to put it down.”
-Bryan Welch
Author of Beautiful and Building the World We Want -
“Using honest lessons gleaned at both the kitchen table and in the operating room, Dr. Yorke reflects on a life shaped by determination and choices made both for him and by him. In this compelling memoir, he shares powerful stories—offering a heartfelt look at the challenges and triumphs that define a life dedicated to healing.”
-Marsha Pope
President Topeka Community Foundation
“Steep is no less a profound meditation on the toll it takes to stand before the steep wall of lowering historical forces and the determination, discipline, and drive necessary in scaling it.
175 pages, Paperback
Published April 23, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 26, 2025
Exceptional read. I couldn't put it down and finished within 24 hours. Crisp writing, captivating story, delightful turns of phrase, endless kernels of wisdom and moments of humor. A wonderful read for anyone interested in American history, Black history, medicine, neurosurgery, parenting, achievement, community, and well-told life stories.
December 12, 2025
This is a good, short, autobiographical work. The author details his upbringing as an only child in a black American family, highlighting the rigorous nature of his experience. From there he moves into his adolescent experience in a prestigious academy, his college years at Harvard, his medical school training, and his journey to becoming a well-regarded brain surgeon in Topeka, Kansas.
This book originally began as personal/family project, so he could share his story with his two sons - but it evolved into book for distribution. It's very readable. He writes in short segments, telling quick stories. It's good for the start-and-stop reading that some of us like to do.
It strikes me as the type of book that would appeal to the conservative crowd, with its emphasis on discipline, hard work, and attention to detail... going along with the popular idea that "in America you can do anything if you work hard and set your mind to it." But the author is not blind either to the racism that he and his family encountered, or to the some of the help he got from key people along the way.
He is very open towards the end of the book about his Democratic political leanings - but this isn't an ideological book; it's an honest telling of his story. There are signs that this is a beginning work. He occasionally meanders into semi-philosophical musings from his experiences. Sometimes they lean into to poetry. At their best they are insightful, but sometimes they are a bit awkward. Also, his penchant for writing in sentence fragments is a bit annoying.
But overall this is a very good work. It's a compelling read. His story is worth telling, and it was also worth reading and hearing for those of us beyond the ranks of his immediate family. I'm glad that it was shared.
This book originally began as personal/family project, so he could share his story with his two sons - but it evolved into book for distribution. It's very readable. He writes in short segments, telling quick stories. It's good for the start-and-stop reading that some of us like to do.
It strikes me as the type of book that would appeal to the conservative crowd, with its emphasis on discipline, hard work, and attention to detail... going along with the popular idea that "in America you can do anything if you work hard and set your mind to it." But the author is not blind either to the racism that he and his family encountered, or to the some of the help he got from key people along the way.
He is very open towards the end of the book about his Democratic political leanings - but this isn't an ideological book; it's an honest telling of his story. There are signs that this is a beginning work. He occasionally meanders into semi-philosophical musings from his experiences. Sometimes they lean into to poetry. At their best they are insightful, but sometimes they are a bit awkward. Also, his penchant for writing in sentence fragments is a bit annoying.
But overall this is a very good work. It's a compelling read. His story is worth telling, and it was also worth reading and hearing for those of us beyond the ranks of his immediate family. I'm glad that it was shared.
January 12, 2026
On the surface, this book seems like a rags-to-riches story of the author's journey from a black ghetto area of Boston to Harvard Medical School and an esteemed career as a neurosurgeon. However, there is so much more to it... primarily how his success was used by his parents as a way to prove their worth in a racially divided world. Yorke tells how their ambition for him negatively impacted his childhood.
For anyone interested in black history and racial issues, this book is a wonderful insight into one man's experience. The writing is lovely and the story compelling.
For anyone interested in black history and racial issues, this book is a wonderful insight into one man's experience. The writing is lovely and the story compelling.
June 13, 2025
This fascinating and sometimes painful read tells the true story of a skilled black neurosurgeon's rise to success and his "steep" journey from the Roxbury district of Boston. Expertly written and engagingly direct, the story has remained with me in a haunting way. Because we never know the steep price that a pillar of the community may have paid to achieve his or her success. Highly recommended!
September 8, 2025
Steep is a wonderfully written memoir of a black young man’s climb from a poor neighborhood in Boston to his success as a top neurosurgeon. He examines his life as he reflects back on what he missed, what he attained and how he worked to meet the expectations of his parents, himself and others along the way.
October 8, 2025
Loved it! As a Topeka native and a nurse of nearly 25 years, I could relate to many of the cases Dr. Yorke recounted. As a brand new ICU nurse in 2002 I had the honor of working with Dr. Yorke. He was always so kind to his patients, their families and the nursing staff. Thank you Dr. Yorke for sharing your story!
October 16, 2025
A FB friend of mine from Topeka urged me to read this memoir by Dr Yorke, (she knows him and his wife, and does some gardening for them as well). Later I found that a "real life" friend of mine knows them as well (Topeka is a small city, and many of the professionals there live in a couple older neighborhoods).
I do love memoirs, and I am glad she suggested I read this. Born in the Boston area, educated at Harvard and San Francisco, and a career in Topeka, KS. The book is split into three parts - his education, his career as a nuerosurgeon, and his life after retiring at a youngish age (early 50's - as he felt his physical skills already diminishing).
The subtitle is "A Black Nuerosurgeon's Journey", and while there is always the undercurrent of the racism he faced, and the anger that he and his father hid from the White hegemony, it does not overwhelm the narrative.
Which is about achieving what his parents, other relatives, and family friends expected of him. Sometimes to the detriment of his own life. He often expresses regret for what he missed during the childhood and adolesence for both himself, and of his two sons.
In both the education and career parts of the memoir he shares with us some of his most memorable cases. Some with pride, some with regret that he was "not good enough" to save the patient. Yorke thankfully has the ability to describe and explain the medical situations in a language that is understandable to the non-medical layman.
Overall an enjoyable, and informative, read about striving to achieve - and finally to strive towards enjoying his life as well (he has now been retired from surgery for almost as long as he had practiced it).
His brief asides on malpractice were interesting as well. And how Dr's have been forced in some ways to push surgeries that are not necessary.
This is an excellent read not only about a Black man's life and his achievements, but also about the medical world as well. And he does not hesitate to call out fellow members of the medical profession for their attitude towards the less learned patients.
4.5 out of 5.
I do love memoirs, and I am glad she suggested I read this. Born in the Boston area, educated at Harvard and San Francisco, and a career in Topeka, KS. The book is split into three parts - his education, his career as a nuerosurgeon, and his life after retiring at a youngish age (early 50's - as he felt his physical skills already diminishing).
The subtitle is "A Black Nuerosurgeon's Journey", and while there is always the undercurrent of the racism he faced, and the anger that he and his father hid from the White hegemony, it does not overwhelm the narrative.
Which is about achieving what his parents, other relatives, and family friends expected of him. Sometimes to the detriment of his own life. He often expresses regret for what he missed during the childhood and adolesence for both himself, and of his two sons.
In both the education and career parts of the memoir he shares with us some of his most memorable cases. Some with pride, some with regret that he was "not good enough" to save the patient. Yorke thankfully has the ability to describe and explain the medical situations in a language that is understandable to the non-medical layman.
Overall an enjoyable, and informative, read about striving to achieve - and finally to strive towards enjoying his life as well (he has now been retired from surgery for almost as long as he had practiced it).
His brief asides on malpractice were interesting as well. And how Dr's have been forced in some ways to push surgeries that are not necessary.
This is an excellent read not only about a Black man's life and his achievements, but also about the medical world as well. And he does not hesitate to call out fellow members of the medical profession for their attitude towards the less learned patients.
4.5 out of 5.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews