Our Stories
Share the power of long-term recovery. If you are in recovery, a family member, friend or ally of someone in recovery, we want to hear your recovery story!
Learn more...
Faces & Voices of Recovery's book page
has information on many of the growing number of recovery-related publications. It’s a work in progress, so please let us know of other books that you think we should include. Check it out!
|
Recovery in the News
Ex-political operative helping others kick substance abuse
Kate Nolan
The Arizona Republic
August 28, 2007
Bill Brown spends a lot of time spreading the word that life is better unhooked.
Brown ought to know.
The Scottsdale resident gave up booze and drugs 18 years ago after a strenuous immersion in Washington, D.C., politics, including work during the "dirty tricks" era of the Nixon administration.
Now Brown and his wife, Barbara Nicholson-Brown, organize the annual Art of Recovery Expo, which will be held Sept. 29 at the Phoenix Convention Center.
The free event educates the community about addiction and puts people in touch with solutions.
"Barbara and I are recovery advocates. We want people to know there are resources," said Brown, 65.
"The recovery field tends to market to itself, but people don't know where to get help. I'm a good example of what can happen when someone is at death's door," he said.
Brown worked for Richard Nixon "during the Watergate years," but is not the William Brown who served as Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner at that time, he said.
"I was in clandestine operations. I didn't wear that white a hat," said Brown, who refuses to elaborate on his role in the dirty-tricks scandal that toppled the Nixon presidency.
"I dealt with lobbyists and influence peddlers. I was a product of alcohol and disease, and I would do anything to make a buck," he said.
Brown also worked as a franchise-business consultant, which he continues to do.
But a conversion has occurred. Brown now speaks and writes on substance abuse and stays informed about therapies related to addiction.
A quintuple-bypass survivor, Brown spends Fridays volunteering at Scottsdale Healthcare Shea with Mended Hearts, a support group for heart-disease patients.
Brown's retreat from alcoholism didn't come until 1989, but it was abrupt.
After hospitalization for his second heart attack, Brown started drinking again, despite a doctor's warning to quit.
Three weeks later, the non-compliant patient awoke in the middle of the night with voices in his head.
"I thought I was crazy. The voices said, 'All this has to stop.' I went to a mental institution and they diagnosed me as alcoholic."
He soon got help at an Arizona addiction center and a few months later was patching his life together again, working as a "$3.85 an hour busboy" at Katz Delicatessen in Phoenix.
"I was never happier in my life. I didn't have to lie. I didn't have to make you like me," Brown said.
Twelve years ago, after two failed marriages, he and Barbara married.
The two publish Arizona Together, a recovery newspaper, and three years ago launched Recovery Expo.
The event has been approved by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration as part of national Recovery Month in September.
In addition to addiction-therapy programs and medical treatments, Recovery Expo addresses secondary problems that arise from substance abuse. Free workshops on credit repair, education, relationships and other topics will be given.
Brown is happy to talk about his recovery, but says it is not unusual. He said Arizona, with its many recovery centers and therapists and support from state government, provides a good atmosphere for recovery.
"It's been an exciting journey, but anyone can do this," Brown said.
Copyright © 2007, azcentral.com