Bobby's Book

Description

Through the words and reflections of the former drug addict and petty criminal, this book relates the long, agonizing journey from youthful urban violence and despair to the life of a committed and generous professional. Beginning in a working-class Brooklyn neighborhood in the mid 1950s where alcohol abuse and poverty were rampant, Bobby Powers went from being an illiterate gang leader and notorious drug dealer to a destroyed individual who had lost everything, including family members, close friends, and himself, all presented in his own words and in grim detail in this book. At a critical turning point in his life, recognizing the threat of his behaviors to survival, he entered detox and embarked on the arduous path to recovery and self-understanding. This process involved not only acknowledging and coming to terms with the injuries he had inflicted on his children and others, but also asking for their forgiveness. Having achieved a new way of life as a responsible and caring adult, Bobby Powers is today, at 69, a nationally respected drug addiction counselor who has aided a wide spectrum of people, including former gang members. His story represents a brutal and inspiring lesson in human frailty, degradation, and transformation From publisher description.;1) The Way Back -- 2) The Bomb -- 3) From Ten to Fourteen -- 4) Voted Most Likely to Die Before Twenty-One -- 5) Woodstock -- 6) Cocaine -- Photographs (Bruce Davidson, 1959) -- 7) Chuch -- 8) Michelle -- 9) Jail -- 10) After Jail, Sally -- 11) Bad Crimes -- 12) Living on the Streets -- 13) Detox -- 14) Sue, Third Wife -- 15) Daughter Carrie -- 16) Family -- 17) Sobriety -- Acknowledgments.