The Same Kind of Different As Me
By Ron Hall ’71 (MBA ’73) and Denver Moore with Lynn Vincent
W Publishing Group

Gripping, heartbreaking and inspiring, Same Kind of Different As Me is a poignant true story about two very unlikely friends from contrasting worlds and the woman who brought them together. Denver Moore was living in the streets of Fort Worth, a hard row to hoe but a step up from his past of modern-day slavery as a sharecropper. Though rising from modest blue-collar roots, Ron Hall ’71 (MBA ’73) was living the high life as an international art dealer. Their worlds collided when Ron’s wife, Deborah Short Hall ’67, reached out to Denver. An act of charity turned to friendship, one that would become more valuable to Ron than he ever dreamed. All proceeds from the book benefit the homeless. In the first two months, it sold 30,000 copies – just from word of mouth. And there are already a handful of inquiries about movie deals.

What prompted you to make the leap from writing checks to rolling up your sleeves and serving the homeless? The real thing was that my wife Deborah asked me specifically. I went first because I wanted to be a good husband, which was motivated a lot out of guilt from having been a bad husband, and secondly I wanted to protect her. And none of it had anything to do with me actually wanting to go down there and help anybody. That all changed though.

Did Denver help you more than you helped him? Yes, I would say so. First of all, Denver would have been perfectly happy – or at least he thought he would – staying homeless because after 40 years he knew the ropes and he was the lion of the jungle. He helped me learn never to judge a person just by looking at them or their actions until I could actually know them and see into their hearts and hear what they had to say. He’s also helped me know what a true friend is. I used the term friend very loosely but to him, friend meant someone you would actually give your life for.

What is the greatest thing Denver did for you? He taught me a lot about keys. The first time I ever pulled my keys out, he asked me, “Do you own something to every one of those keys? Are sure that you own those things or do they own you?” And I thought, wow, you’re right. I think these things do own me because I’m controlled by my possessions. Then he taught me that God gives us all a set of keys we can take to unlock and free people out of their prisons and captivity. He said, “Most people walk by people that are in prison and never use the keys and just leave them in their pocket. But Miss Debbie took her keys out and used them to unlock the prison that I was in and set me free.”

What do you hope people take from your story? For people to make a step forward to begin to love the unlovable. Love is something that will changes lives. Denver will tell you that government programs and faith-based agencies kept him alive through free meals for 40 years, either in prison or on the streets, but the first thing that changed his life was the love of a woman, Miss Debbie. And had Debbie not come along to show him that love, acceptance and forgiveness, then he would not be the person he is today.