Overcoming Addictions – The Power of our Hometowns and Local Neighborhoods

by David Palmer When World War II began in 1941, my father gave up his high paying public relations job on New York’s Madison Avenue, bought the local newspaper, the Summit Herald, in our home town of Summit, N.J. and went to work. He was forty, had a wife and kids, and was therefore exempt from […]

In Autumn – a New Beginning

man drinking | one day at a time | alcoholic

One late afternoon in October 1978, I found myself at a deserted outdoor restaurant in Boulder, Colorado with only the bartender for company. In the lengthening shadows of the Rocky Mountains, chilled by the wind, I stood with drink in hand suddenly overcome by a sense of loneliness and isolation. I watched the lights wink […]

Alcoholism Doesn’t Know Your Birthday (and doesn’t care)

One Day At A Time | David Palmer

Beware of alcohol, seniors. Your defenses are down. Nobody seems to have noticed, but the old folks are having trouble with alcohol, and it’s time we did something about it. That was the word I got when I interviewed Dr. David Lipschitz, author and one time chairman of the geriatrics department at the University of […]

Why the Biblically Based 12 Step Programs Work

Conversations about the “war on drugs,” a misguided and costly effort to shut down the supply of drugs have resurfaced. My position remains that if addicted people want something badly enough, they will find a way to get it whether it be Martinis, 16 ounce soft drinks or Hostess Twinkies. Drying up demand is the […]

Time is Not Recyclable – Living One Day at a Time

Pathways to Serenity We’ve all got addictions.  Let’s deal with them. Now When you think about it, we really don’t have much choice in life than to deal with things. There is no time out in life. Everything counts. Every day. Every minute. We cannot afford to waste time. I myself spent precious years during […]

My Name is Funky

My Name is Funky, and I’m and alcoholic By Tom Batiuk Published by Hazelden Thirty-five years ago, Tom Batiuk (rhymes with “attic”), a high school art teacher, launched his Funky Winkerbean comic strip about an amiable character with a goofy first name and an assortment of quirky friends at Westview High. There was Crazy Harry […]

Celebrate Recovery: A Growing Global Ministry Offers Hope

The time has come, and from all over the world the faithful arrive. They fill the cavernous worship center at California’s Saddleback Church, and, murmuring with anticipation, they wait. Then, with hands held high, the percussionist, barely visible behind his drum set, clicks his sticks, and the “World’s Most Dangerous Recovery Band,” through condo-sized speakers, […]

“Bear” Bearden Rides with Christian Bikers to Share His Faith and Message of Recovery

James “Bear” Bearden’s mission in life, he says, is “to share God, Christ and recovery,” and his multiple tattoos, biker jacket and headband proclaim it. One of the multiple patches on his jacket says loud and clear, “I ride with Jesus” and another says “ Cry Freedom John 8:32,” a biblical verse which reads, “you […]

The Mindful Addict

By Tom Catton A Memoire of the Awakening of a Spirit Central Recovery Press Available on Amazon or at Barnes and Noble Tom Catton, 71, a one-time “smack addled” blond surfer, shot up drugs daily when he was in his twenties, quit drinking and drugging at age 31 and has been clean and sober for […]

In the Fight Against Student Alcohol Abuse, Texas Tech Recovery Program Gains Traction

For young adults, staying clean and sober, especially in college, has special challenges, and, in response, Texas Tech’s “Collegiate Recovery Community (CRC)” program is now spreading rapidly to other colleges. To date, 44 have signed on. In 2011, the 2nd annual Collegiate Recovery and Relapse Prevention Conference at Texas Tech in Lubbock attracted more than […]