Remembering That Day of “Infamy”

FDR-PearlHarborHeadline | David Palmer | One Day at a Time

I was 12 years old when my father, looking very grave, told us-my mother, sister and me-that the Japanese had attacked Pearl Harbor on Oahu, one of the Hawaiian Islands. It was a picture perfect day in Summit, N.J., a charming commuter town 30 miles west of New York City. There was about a foot […]

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 […]

A Grandfather’s Tale: Thankful for Turkey

On Building Relationships A grandfather’s Tale By David Palmer The late Dr. Conway Hunter used to sponsor an annual, four-day Thanksgiving retreat at St. Simons Island off the Georgia coast for people in recovery from substance addictions, mainly alcohol. In November of 1990, I joined a contingent from Little Rock at the retreat. I was […]

Restoring the American family: A key to greatness

“The reason there is so much violence and chaos in the black precincts is the disintegration of the African-American family.” With this statement, Bill O’Reilly, on Fox News the night of July 22, began to recast the national conversation about the plight of inner city blacks from a race problem to a family problem. “Right […]

A salute to Marine Bob G. on Memorial Day

Bob G. served with the U.S. Marines in Vietnam for sixteen months and for many years has been treated for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) stemming from his combat service during the late sixties. During the thirty-two years after his service, overcome by his fears, anger, and addictions, he lost his family and went to prison […]

Death in the afternoon. How can we save our children?

I first heard about the dreadful boating accident on Oklahoma’s Grand Lake from my grandson, Nick. He was driving me to pick up my car at the Honda garage and had just heard about it from a college friend on his I-phone. The message was that two of his classmates at the University of Arkansas […]

Movie to open in August ‘Step Away From The Stone’ offers hope and recovery

When actress Karen McCann put out a casting call for her new movie, Step Away From The Stone, 300 actors and would be actors, diverse in both age and race, showed up at Little Rock’s Rep theater for tryouts. McCann, who heads Rock Productions, a movie production firm, chose 150, and the shooting began three […]

In Search of the Transformed Life and the Blessings of Recovery

By David Palmer Let us agree at the outset that the United States has a huge substance abuse problem. “On any given day,” Joseph A. Califano Jr. writes in his book High Society, “100 million Americans are taking some stimulant, antidepressant, tranquilizer or painkiller; smoking; inhaling from aerosol cans or glue bottles; or self-medicating with […]

Sought Through Prayer and Meditation

Wisdom from the Sunday 11th Step Meetings At the Wolfe Street Center in Little Rock Geno W., with William G. Borchert Hazelden Foundation The Eleventh Step: Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to […]

Lost Fathers

How women can heal from adolescent father loss. By Laraine Herring Published by Hazelden “Every girl needs a ferryman to help her cross the river. When the mythic ferryman figure in her life is missing due to death or other loss, the journey is complicated.” When you hear the testimony of women in recovery, there […]