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ISSUE 2WWW.BOOKSANDRECOVERY.COM

Substance Abuse and Mental HealthServices Administration

1 | ISSUE 2Welcome to Issue 2 of Books & Recovery. Thanks to everyone who took the time to read and share the premiere issue, and for any sense of connection it might have helped create. (If you missed it, the first issue is available here.) The month of September was significant because of two observances – National Recovery Month and also Suicide Prevention and Awareness Month. While I didn’t quite make the September publication timeline, I think it’s important to continue to commemorate these observances, as we have in this issue, because recovery isn’t just one month; it’s a new way of life. I love what author and activist Ryan Hampton told me when I asked about the moment of clarity that led him to recovery and he said it was his moment of change. That brings to mind the word “metamorphosis,” which is posted on the Books & Recovery website and Oxford Languages defines as, “A change of the form or nature of a thing or person into a completely different one, by natural or supernatural means.” May we all be open and willing to embrace change.It’s such an honor to be able to bring you this second issue with all the collective wisdom and insight from people with lived experience, who are willing to share their stories with us. And, again, it’s my hope that it will help forge lasting connections. Books & Rec is dedicated to my son, Calvin, whom I love more than anything, and to William Russell Mitchell (1957 – 1981), whom I will always love. ISSUE 2PUBLISHER Rebecca PontonTECHNICAL ADVISOR Emmanuel SullivanGRAPHIC DESIGNER Kim FischerSUBSCRIBE subscribe@booksandrecovery.comCONTACT US For editorial, advertising, and general inquiries, please email rebecca@booksandrecovery.com.The contents of this digital publication may not be reproduced either in whole or in part without the express written consent of the publisher. Every effort has been made to provide accurate data; however, the publisher cannot be held liable for material content or errors. You should not rely on the information as a substitute for, nor does it replace, professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. If you have any concerns or questions about your health, you should always consult a physician or other health care professional. Do not disregard, avoid or delay obtaining medical or health related advice from your healthcare professional because of something you may have read in this publication. Books & Rec and its publisher do not recommend or endorse any advertisers in this digital publication and accept no responsibility for services advertised herein. Substance Abuse and Mental HealthServices Administration“I think [I’d had enough] probably by the time I was in my 60s. For a long time, you’d go to a funeral of someone who’d ODed and everyone would still be standing around the grave scoring dope and making [drug] deals. Because, you know, it’s an addiction. My advice would be, read Allen Carr – not the comedian, the author of books on the way to quit addiction – he’s a hero of mine. It takes a while. People think that you have problems, and that’s why you become an addict. But in my experience, most of us just wanted to get loaded, because all our heroes did it and we wanted to find out what it was like. It’s not necessarily trauma-born, but it certainly becomes a trauma.” Musician Chrissie Hynde, 72, author Reckless: My Life as a Pretender (Doubleday; September 2015), from The Guardian, August 6, 2023. The Pretenders’ latest release is Relentless (September 2023).In This IssueCover Feature: Ryan Hampton ......................................2“Quote, Unquote” ...............................................................7Excerpt from Max Lucado ................................................ 8Q&A with Nancy Jones ...................................................10Kathy Ireland Interview ..................................................14Coming in Issue 3 Ed Begley, Jr. – Actor, Environmental Activist, Author To the Temple of Tranquility… and Step on It!Peter Grinspoon, MD – Author, Free Refills and Seeing Through the SmokeAnd more . . . Visit www.booksandrecovery.com and subscribe today!

2 | ISSUE 2In Conversation with Ryan HamptonAUTHOR OF AMERICAN FIX AND UNSETTLEDCOVER FEATURERyan Hampton: I was someone who dabbled in drugs and alcohol at a younger age, in my teens. I partied some when I went to college in Washington, DC. I think it’s important for folks to know that I’m also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and adverse childhood experiences, and was kind of perfectly positioned for chaotic substance use later on in life, when introduced at the “right” opportunity, and that opportunity came in 2003. I was 23 years old, living in Washington, DC, had just finished working in the Clinton White House about a year and a half earlier, and was actually working at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on the 2004 presidential campaign. I had gone on a hike with my roommate and I slipped and fell and injured my ankle and knee pretty badly – I actually split my kneecap. I was given hydromorphone at the urgent care clinic. The prescriber told me I probably needed to get that Photos courtesy of Ryan Hampton.

3 | ISSUE 2knee checked out with an MRI, but I never got the MRI. I did continue to go back to get another prescription and another prescription, which they willingly wrote, and I didn’t see any problem with it, honestly, and nobody around me did. I wasn't displaying that full-on chaotic addiction behavior – yet.The nexus of the story was I moved home to Florida shortly after that, had taken another job, and went to see my primary care provider in early 2003 – the accident happened in 2001 – and they told me they didn’t do this type of medicine, and that I should go see a pain care specialist, which is what I did. The specialist told me about this great medication that had less than one percent chance of addiction, I wouldn’t need to take multiple pills a day, and it would be better on my liver. It was oxycontin. My journey into addiction from there was not protracted whatsoever.I didn’t know it at the time, but that was really the heyday of pill mills and I ended up in one of them in south Florida. My first bout of treatment was in 2006. I had my first [period of] homelessness by 2007. I was bouncing in and out of treatment by 2008, couch surfing, homeless, in and out of recovery homes/sober living, multiple overdoses, and then I was abruptly cut off from prescription oxycontin in late 2008, early 2009, because I was in the prescription drug monitoring database for having received multiple prescriptions. I was highly addicted at that point and, when I was cut off, that’s when I turned to street heroin. It was a very dark downward spiral all the way up until I got sober in 2015.RP: You originally were prescribed the medication for what sounds like a pretty severe injury. Would you say that was what sort of turned on that switch in your brain?RH: I was a casual drinker; I was using drugs – things like cocaine – when I was in college, but it wasn’t until I met opioids that my life completely crumbled because of my use. I could tell you the drug use and drinking during my college years and early in my career were nothing different than many of my friends and people I was in school with. The only difference was, they didn’t end up homeless on the corner of Hollywood and Highland in 2014 panhandling for change. RP: So, you really feel like it was the opioids that did it? You had been able to “manage” your other drug use and drinking, so to speak, until the opioids entered the picture? RH: I think that the opioid use provided me with a sense of comfort and acceptance and calm and escape from a tremendous amount of trauma that I had been running from for a long time, including the fact that I was still in the closet at that point in my life. It was my way of coping.RP: That makes sense; it works until it doesn’t. I feel like a lot of people that are going to read this publication will be parents like myself who have gone through their child’s addiction with them. People try to help and, especially early on, when you don’t know better or you’re not educated about substance use, sometimes those things aren’t helpful. What was something people did meaning to be helpful, but that wasn’t?RH: One of the worst things was people telling me to “man up,” pull up my bootstraps, and find the will to nip this thing in the bud. It came from colleagues and friends and even medical professionals. I was denied access to medication assisted treatment (MAT) – buprenorphine and methadone – many times by medical professionals and treatment centers because I was told it was just going to be another crutch. I think one of the worst things was putting the onus of getting better on me, and viewing my chaotic substance use through the lens of a moral problem, not a healthcare challenge.RP: By the same token, what do you consider one of the most helpful things someone did for you during the time you were active in chaotic substance use?RH: One of the more heartwarming things was that my mom never gave up on me. She also didn’t discard me. My mom was no doormat – there were many times I wasn’t allowed in the house, there were many times we wouldn’t see each other in person, but she always answered the phone. She always had a word of encouragement for me. She was always willing to help find a place for me to go. She never “tough loved” me out of her life. She always believed that things could get better. She didn’t disown me and I think that was probably the most important thing. I think had it not been for her love, and compassion, and phone calls, and encouragement through many of those dark times, I probably wouldn’t be alive today because nobody – nobody – would talk to me. My mother oftentimes was the only person who would answer the phone.RP: That’s what moms are for.RH: It is, but it’s also instructional for anyone that has a loved one struggling because there are institutions and curriculum and support groups that tell families to not talk to their person, their loved one, and while I understand the need to protect one’s own mental health and sanity, there are ways to set healthy boundaries without cutting that person completely out of your life.“One of the worst things [is] viewing chaotic substance use through the lens of a moral problem, not a healthcare challenge.”

4 | ISSUE 2Many treatment facilities in the United States still operate on very old models. Many of them don’t use evidence based care. Many of them still operate off of a tough love, zero tolerance policy and, while there are people who do recover that way, I believe the vast majority of people are harmed by those types of approaches. We have empirical data on the increasing overdose deaths now of, I think, 109,680 human souls – historic high [numbers] of drug overdose deaths. Many of the treatment models in this country don’t work and, at the core of it, treatment is still out of reach for 90-plus percent of Americans in this country. The system is fundamentally broken.RP: I couldn’t agree with you more. What was the turning point for you, Ryan? What was that moment of clarity?RH: My moment of change came in 2015 when I was a peer house manager in a recovery home in Pasadena, California, and I lost my friend and roommate Nick. He had a relapse and was using again and had to be out of the home by midnight because that was the rule. He couldn’t call his parents because they wanted nothing to do with him. He wasn’t able to tell his [employer] because he was afraid he was going to lose [his job] if he shared this with them. He had no insurance. He had no money. There was really no place for him to go. He came to a deal with the owner of the house that if he went to this hospital and was medically cleared, he could come back to the house. Nick actually walked about a mile and a half to that hospital around 11:30 at night and sat there and waited until they triaged him in and out. In the triage, he never saw a doctor, and the nurse that triaged him said there was nothing they could do for him there, and sent him home with a piece of paper with a bunch of crisis hotlines that he could call the next day, if he was quote unquote “willing.” I never saw or heard from Nick again. He was actually found dead on the sidewalk about four blocks from our house early the next morning by the Pasadena Police Department. He had used whatever stash he had left.The house owner circled us up early that morning to share the news that Nick had died and he said something along the lines of, “You know, this is what I’ve been telling you guys since you got here: People die when they go out,” and used that cliché, “Some people have to die so others can recover.”I remember sitting in that house meeting and just having this complete rage inside of me. Nick did all the things that we’re taught to do, which is to go to a place like a hospital that we’re taught to trust from a very young age, and ask for help, and Activist and author Ryan Hampton at the capitol building in Washington, DC.

5 | ISSUE 2they told him they couldn’t help him. He died as a result.There are so many [losses]. I’m going on close to nine years [of sobriety] and, at this point, you start thinking, “It’s no longer an epidemic; it’s endemic. We’re just managing what’s happening.”That was the day when I really realized maybe being silent about my own journey wasn’t necessarily the best thing. Maybe I needed to do more. Maybe I needed to talk about this. Maybe I needed to be more open about it. And it set me on this path trying to meet other people who are as enraged as I was about our friends dying of overdoses, and it turned into forming The Voices Project, and starting Mobilize Recovery, and working on dozens of pieces of legislation from mental health parity to standards for sober [living] homes to pushing for more funding for recovery community support, peer workforce infrastructure, and harm reduction.RP: I’m so sorry for your loss. Consequently, you became this very vocal, very visible activist – thank you so much for what you do – and that comes with some activism fatigue I would imagine [RH: “Oh yeah”] – you’ve got this high pressure job, you’re writing books, and you’re newly married to your husband, Sean, so congratulations on that! What do you do to stay on the path to recovery with everything you have going on?RH: The more work I do on the activism front, the more important it is for me to remain close to my own personal recovery practice. I’m very active in a recovery peer group. I have mindful meditations that I do on the daily. I definitely take moments of self-care where I can throughout the day. I know when it’s important for me to put down the pen or microphone – or the megaphone – and focus on me and my relationship with my husband and my one year old boxer puppy, Quincy, who are a huge part of my self-care routine. I stay plugged into a vast network of people who are not advocates and it’s important that they know me as Ryan, recovering person, rather than Ryan advocate or Ryan author, because it is a different type of relationship. I do a lot of writing that isn’t associated with advocacy or even substance use; it’s just a practice that helps get my mind off of some of the stressful things I deal with day in and day out. Music has also become a huge recovery practice for me. I don’t play an instrument, but I enjoy music tremendously, and have found it to be very comforting in times of stress and distress.RP: Speaking of your writing, you are the author of two books – American Fix: Inside the Opioid Addiction Crisis – and How to End It (August 2018) and Unsettled: How the Purdue Pharma Bank-ruptcy Failed the Victims of the American Overdose Crisis (Octo-ber 2021) – both published by im-prints of St. Martin’s Press. What was your impetus to write those books and what do you hope that people will get from them?RH: I didn’t plan on writing American Fix. I had gone on a cross country road trip with my best friend and roommate, Garrett, in the summer of 2016 to meet others impacted by the overdose crisis and to learn what communities were doing, and I came back from that trip so inspired. I had learned so much.I went to Vroman’s Bookstore, which is a little independent bookstore on Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena, and spent three hours that night looking for a book on the addiction crisis, the overdose crisis. I found these very flashy celebrity memoirs – these horror stories – and then five or six pages at the end are about [getting] sober, and I found some very well researched narrative books by well respected journalists that had kind of an outside view of the problem, but didn’t really offer a solution. I was looking for the movement-building book – where do we go [from here]? What do we do? What are the solutions?When I got home, Garrett asked me if I found the book and I said, no. He said, “It might sound crazy, but why don’t you “It’s no longer an epidemic; it’s endemic. We’re just managing what’s happening.”

6 | ISSUE 2write something? We just got back from this trip – we must have met 200 people – all these folks who were still in jail and peers and policymakers; we saw these recovery community organizations and harm reduction groups. Why don’t you write something while it’s fresh in your mind?”So, I sat down that night – and it wasn’t with the intent to write a book – and I just started writing and wrote a couple of pages. The next morning, I woke up and thought, “Well, hell, all these other people have books.” I could certainly write a book after just putting pen to paper. I actually Googled, “What’s the process of writing a book?” So, I wrote a book proposal based on these two pages I had written and ended up sending it off to the big five publishers. I just thought, “You know what? I’m going to kick myself if I don’t do this. I’m just going to send it out into the world and see what happens.” Three of the big five got back to me within a week.RP: Wow, that’s amazing! (As an author, I know how rarely that happens.)RH: The problem was, two of them really liked the story, but they wanted me to change the narrative substantially to be more of the grit of addiction, and not necessarily solution oriented. I turned them down. I would rather not write it all than write what they wanted me to write.A couple of weeks went by and I got a call from St. Martin’s press. After an hour, they said, “We want to publish your book and we’ll give you eight months to write it.” I asked, “What’s the [catch], though? What do you want me to change?” They said, “We don't want to change anything.”It almost sounded too good to be true, but it was about a week later that the editor called me and told me the story of how the proposal got to him. He said his editorial assistant had received it to review and really pushed for it. His name is Kevin – he’s now an editor – and has been my editor since I started [working] with St. Martin’s in 2017. He had just lost his brother to an overdose a couple months prior to that and was really passionate about the [message] I was trying to get out into the world. St. Martin’s press has just become a phenomenal partner in this work. They’ve never told me what to write or how to write or even changed anything. They have let me publish what I want to publish.RP: In reading about your second book, Unsettled, I learned that you were the co-chair of the official creditors’ committee in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case.RH: That book was actually by accident, too. I had been appointed by the Department of Justice to represent vic-tims in the Purdue Pharma bankruptcy case and was under a protective order where I couldn’t talk about the process, the case, the negotiations, the Sackler family evidence that I reviewed, the formulas for how the settlements had come to, and I spent well over two years in that process. It was so maddening because what was being disclosed to the public through the media was just piecemeal and didn’t tell the full story. I just started journaling and eventually got to a place where I resigned [from] the committee, but I had been writing my tail off because my view was, if that whole catastrophe wasn’t documented in one way or an-other, history would repeat itself.I went into that as a fierce advocate and someone who has fought against the Sacklers since the early days of my advocacy and I became a huge advocate for bankruptcy reform in the United States [laughing]. I learned more about the bankruptcy process than I ever cared to. Unsettled is a very detailed look at how the Sackler family was, at least at this point, able to escape any type of liability because of their extraordinary wealth. That case was just granted cert [certiorari] by the Supreme Court [August 10, 2023]. I said many times in the book that this case definitely is going to end up at the Supreme Court because the bankruptcy law around third party releases was so ambiguous. My hope with Unsettled was that it became an instrument for change, not just around accountability for pharmaceutical companies, but also big corporate accountability and reform of the bankruptcy system itself.RP: I see you have another book coming out. Are you able to share what it’s about? RH: It’s coming out with St. Martin’s in Summer 2024 and will be about the modern American drug war and what I believe is the botched response to the fentanyl crisis.RP: I already want to read it and I think a lot of other people will as well. We’ll talk again before it comes out, so, readers, watch this space!

7 | ISSUE 2Quote, UnquoteWHAT WAS THE CATALYST THAT COMPELLED YOU TO SEEK HELP FOR YOUR SUBSTANCE USE? Honesty Liller“After years of treatment for my opiate addiction, I didn’t really know what else to do. Nothing worked for me, and I didn’t want to be dope sick anymore. My daughter was five, and I couldn’t be the mother she needed because of my addiction. My mom found McShin. In my head, I wanted to stay just for a detox, but I ended up living in the female recovery home for five months. That peer-to-peer connection saved my life and I have been in recovery for over 16 years. Recovery rocks!” Liller is CEO of the McShin Foundation and author of Shattered Pink: A Diary of a Woman in Recovery (Honesty Brackett Liller; April 2022). Jesse Harless“The catalyst was being arrested at 22 years old for my addiction to prescription opioids. The threat of losing my freedom led to massive action on my part. I quickly began listening to mentors, journaling daily, and taking steps toward regulating my nervous system in small ways. Panic attacks and intense bouts of anxiety were big motivators for changing my thinking through reading, prayer, and meditation. Finding a community of people in recovery to share my wins, losses, pain, grief, and the many ups and downs of early recovery was also a significant component. Learning self-love and being of service were and still are essential.”Harless is the author of If Not You, Then Who? Harness Your Strengths to Shift from Addiction to Abundance (Entrepreneurs in Recovery; May 2021). He is also the host of the podcast Entrepreneurs in Recovery®. www.jesseharless.com Brad Orsted “I knew if my goal was to write honestly about my traumatic experiences, and tell the story of two orphaned grizzly bear cubs, I was going to have to do it sober. And for that, I needed some professional help. I could not revisit the battlefield; the origins of horror, in detail, over and over again, while still using. It would have been my demise, and final defeat, to attempt earnest writing while still drinking. I was ready to cut off my little finger with a rusty, dull knife the day I finally checked myself into rehab, had they told me it would keep me sober.” Orsted is the author of Through the Wilderness: My Journey of Redemption and Healing in the American Wild (St. Martin’s Press; June 2023). He is also an award-winning wildlife and conservation filmmaker/photographer, author, speaker, and wilderness therapy instructor. www.bradleyorsted.comPhoto courtesy of Travis Gillett.Photo courtesy of Black Mill Photography.

8 | ISSUE 2I have had my own occasions in which I’ve wrestled with God. Seems we all could account for a divine wrestling match. One of the most dramatic occurred some twenty years ago; I was about fifty years old. To the casual observer I was on top of the world. Our brand-new church sanctuary was bursting at the seams. We added new members every week. The congregation had very little debt and absolutely no doubt that their pastor was doing a great work.Our church actually appeared on the list of popular San Antonio attractions. Tour companies bused tourists to our services. The magazine Christianity Today sent a reporter to write a profile on me. The writer called me “America’s Pastor.” Reader’s Digest designated me as the “Best Preacher in America.”All cylinders were firing. I turned sermons into books. My publisher turned books into arena events. I wrote kids stories and recorded kids videos. It was wild!What no one knew was this: I was a mess.Our staff was struggling. Departments were squaring off against one another. Tacky emails were flying like missives. Ministers were competing for budget dollars. A couple of invaluable employees, weary from the tension, quietly resigned. And since I was the senior pastor, it fell to me to set things in order.Yet, who had time for intramural squabbles? I had lessons to prepare. The problem with Sundays is that they happen each week! In addition, I led a midweek prayer service and taught a weekly early morning men’s gathering. Deadlines were coming at me from all sides. I needed time to think, to pray, to study.What’s more (or consequently) I was unhealthy. My heart had the rhythm of a Morse code message: irregular and inconsistent. The cardiologist diagnosed me with atrial fibrillation, put me on medicine, and told me to slow down. But how could I?The staff needed me.The pulpit required me.The publisher was counting on me.The entire world was looking to me.So, I did what came naturally. I began to drink.Not publicly. I was the guy you see at the convenience store who buys the big can of beer, hides it in a sack, and presses it against his thigh so no one will see as he hurries out the door. My store of choice was on the other side of the city lest I be seen. I’d sit in the car, pull the can out of the sack, and guzzle the liquid until it took the edge off the sharp demands of the day.That’s how “America’s Pastor” was coping with his world gone crazy.Life comes with inflection points, junctures in which we know our world is about to change. Events that time-stamp life. EXCERPT: Chapter 8 Face-to-Face With YourselfGod Never Gives Up On YouBY MAX LUCADO“I told God I had everything under control.”Photo courtesy of Max Lucado.

9 | ISSUE 2Crossroads that demand a decision. Go this way? Or that? Everyone has them. You do. I do. Jacob did. Jacob’s came with a name: Jabbok. It is the location where Jacob wrestled with an angel and walked away with a lame hip. My Jabbok, as it turned out, was a parking lot. The wrestling match lasted for the better part of an hour on a spring afternoon. I told God I had everything under control. The staff issues were manageable. The deadlines were manageable. The stress was manageable. The drinking was manageable. But then came a moment of truth. God didn’t touch my hip, but he spoke to my heart. Really, Max? If you have everything together, if you have a lock on this issue, then why are you hiding in a parking lot, sipping a beer that you’ve concealed in a brown paper bag?Jabbok. That moment in which God brings you face-to-face with yourself, and what you see you don’t like.Jabbok. When you use all your strength, only to find your strength won’t give you what you need.Jabbok. A single touch on the hip that brings you to your knees.Jabbok. Jab. Buck.Yet even in the moment, or especially in that moment, God dispenses grace. Look what happened next to Jacob.“What is your name?” the man asked. He replied, “Jacob.” (Gen. 32:27 NLT)On the page of your Bible, there is scarcely a space between the question and the reply. In real time, however, I sense a pause, a long, painful pause. What is your name? There was only one answer, and Jacob choked to spit it out. My… name… is… Jacob. This was a confession. Jacob was admitting to God that he was, indeed, a Jacob: a heel, a cheater, a hustler, a smart operator, a fraud. “That’s who I am. I’m a Jacob.”“Your name will no longer be Jacob,” the man told him. “From now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” (v. 28)Of all the times to be given a new name. And of all the times to be given this name.1 Israel means “God fights” or “God strives.” The name celebrated, and celebrates, God’s power and loyalty. The old Jacob fought for himself. The old Jacob relied on his wits, trickery, and fast feet. Jacob, himself, took care of himself. The new Jacob had a new source of power: God. From this day forward each introduction would be a reminder of God’s presence. “Hello, my name is God fights.” Each call to dinner a welcome instruction, “God fights, it’s time to eat.” His email address was godfights@israel.com. His business card reminded all who read it of the true power of Israel: “God fights.” His old name reflected his old self. His new name reflected his new strength. “God fights.”What grace.God extended it to me. Abundantly. I confessed my hypocrisy to our elders, and they did what good pastors do. They covered me with prayer and designed a plan to help me cope with demands. I admitted my struggle to the congregation and in doing so activated a dozen or so conversations with members who battled the same temptation.We no longer see tour buses in our parking lot, and that’s fine with me. I enjoy an occasional beer – but for flavor, not stress management. And if anyone mentions the “America’s Pastor” moniker, an image comes to mind. The image of a weary, lonely preacher in a convenience store parking lot.God met me there that day. He gave me a new name as well. Not Israel. That one was already taken. But “forgiven.” And I’m happy to wear it.Excerpt from God Never Gives Up On You: What Jacob’s Story Teaches Us About Grace, Mercy and God’s Relentless Love by Max Lucado (Thomas Nelson; September 2023). Reprinted by permission from the author. Copyright © 2023 by Max Lucado.Since entering the ministry in 1978, Max Lucado has served churches in Miami, Florida; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and San Antonio, Texas. He currently serves as Teaching Minister of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio. He is the recipient of the 2021 ECPA Pinnacle Award for his outstanding contribution to the publishing industry and society at large. He is America’s bestselling inspirational author with more than 145 million products in print. His latest book is God Never Gives Up On You: What Jacob’s Story Teaches Us About Grace, Mercy and God’s Relentless Love. www.MaxLucado.com1 Israel is a combination of two Hebrew words that mean “wrestle” (sarah) and “God” (el). It appears 2,431 times in the Bible, and there has been no shortage of discussion regarding its meaning. Some assume that Jacob received this name because he strove with God. Yet when “El” or “Jah,” names of God, are used, God is always the doer. Daniel means “God judges.” Gabriel means “God is my strength.” The names of God describe the actions of God. See Baker Theological Dictionary of the Bible pg. 379 and Arthur W. Pink, Gleanings in Genesis (Chicago: Moody, 1950), 292. “There is some question about its meaning, though an educated guess about the original sense of the name would be: ‘God will rule’ or perhaps ‘God will prevail.’” Robert Alter, Genesis: Translation and Commentary (New York: W. W. Norton, 1996), 182.

10 | ISSUE 2Rebecca Ponton: Nancy, it’s a brutally honest account. This is just speculation because he’s not here to share with us, but what do you think George would think of the book?Nancy Jones: I think he would be proud of me and I’ll tell you why – because there’s so many lies and so much that people told that [was] untrue. So, I think that he would say, “Go girl, go tell the truth,” and that’s what I wanted to do. I wanted to tell the truth to the fans and let them know that George was a good man, he was a spiritual man, he was a funny man and, yes, we all know that George had demons but, once those demons were gone, you couldn’t have asked for a better person.RP: Forty years ago was a different time, [substance use was] much more stigmatized; it was a taboo subject. George seemed to have plenty of re-sources in terms of treatment. Nancy, what kind of resources did you have? Did you have any type of support?NJ: God – that’s all I needed. I just needed the good Lord and He was there on my side. He helped me through this. I mean there’s days [when] you think, “Okay, Lord, where are you?” But He was always there. What I prayed and wanted was for God to help me and He did.Ken Abraham: And I think it was [the case] with Nancy’s story, there was nobody that she could go to. Her family members were not of help, not even people in the music business. She couldn’t share some of the things about the King of Country Music with other people in the music business because they would turn around and use those very things against George and against Nancy, so I think there was a sense of isolation you felt, wasn’t there?NJ: Oh, definitely. The only people that I could turn to were Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash. Johnny had already gone through all of that and Johnny did a lot of praying. June [Carter Cash] did a lot of praying. Waylon would always say, “Man, you got to straighten up. You got a good woman there, George,” and you know George would listen for a little bit, but those are two of the only people that I went to.KA: Because they understood.RP: Like you said, they had that lived experience, so they had some insight, and it sounds like they had some influence with George as well, but he had to get to that point himself.NJ: Waylon’s wife, Jessi [Colter], was just precious. She was so spiritual and she loved God and she would always tell me, “Hang in there; it’s going to get better. Just keep saying your prayers and keep believing in him,” and that’s what I did. KA: June, too. June Carter Cash, Johnny’s wife, would pray and encourage Nancy, and Johnny would pray for George, wouldn’t he? “Every day was a roller coaster, but God was there and He rode that roller coaster with me.” – Nancy Jones.Q&A withNancy Jones and Co-author Ken AbrahamPLAYIN’ POSSUM: MY MEMORIES OF GEORGE JONES

11 | ISSUE 2NJ: All the time. And Johnny never called him George; it was always “Little Pal.” RP: Waylon Jennings and Johnny Cash – that’s a pretty good support group to have! NJ: I felt better with the small support group because I didn’t want everybody in the music industry to know. I didn’t really spell it out a lot to his sister or brother-in-law, but I felt really good with those four people helping me. RP: That’s the whole thing surrounding substance use – the isolation – and I think that’s something everybody will be able to relate to in your book: People struggling with [sub-stance use] do feel very isolated and sometimes their loved ones don’t have anyone to go to either.KA: Even in any 12 step program or anything else, you’ve got to believe in somebody bigger than yourself, higher than you, and Nancy did. She believed in God – it didn’t matter what everybody else said – and that God could change this guy that a lot of people had given up on. Nancy didn’t give up – “Never,” Nancy interjects – and she knew that God hadn’t given up on her.NJ: It will tear your heart out. They have to want to be saved and they have to want God to help them. That’s where you’ve got to really get in there and pray and tell God to pick them up and help them. RP: It gives new meaning to “pray without ceasing,” doesn’t it? You say in the beginning of the book that you wrote it to give hope to other people. You’re a devout Christian and your hope came from the Lord, where else were you able to find hope?NJ: My hope was nothing but from the good Lord. I mean, that’s it. Where was I going to find it? I needed God, and God was there, and He walked me through this. I knew that if I would give up, George would have died, so my hope was, “God, please help me,” and every day was a roller coaster, but God was there and He rode that roller coaster with me.KA: I think George probably would have died had it not been for Nancy. George realized that at some point and he gave Nancy all the credit. He said doctors couldn’t do it, rehabs couldn’t do it, even ministers couldn’t do it; it took the love of this woman right here to help him.RP: Love is the cure; love is the key. Nancy, tell me your favorite memory of George.NJ: George was a very funny man. He would say the funniest things and everybody would be on the floor laughing and he’s like, “What are y’all laughing at?” He was just funny, lovable, and [later] very, very [much a] family man, and that’s what people don’t know and didn’t believe, but that was a gift that God gave him, too.RP: In the book, you write, “From 1999 to 2013, I got my husband back, a husband I should have had to begin with …”NJ: After George hit that bridge [with his car] and died, and God brought him back, he quit drinking and smoking and just told God, “If you let me get through this, I will be the perfect husband that my wife wants, and he never touched liquor – nothing, not even cigarettes – until he died in 2013.KA: That’s an important key because, remember, George prayed; it was not just Nancy praying for George.NJ: He did. That was George’s prayer to God and he never touched any of that stuff again. KA: That was a turning point.RP: I don’t doubt it because I believe God delivers people, but I mean that was just it? Nothing else?To George and me, Bandit was almost human. George and I loved our dog Bandit so much, we named our record company after him.

12 | ISSUE 2NJ: No! No 12 step program, no no no no.RP: That is truly a miracle. KA: That’s for sure, especially for somebody like George, who had smoked cigarettes even as a little boy, and then never smoked again. We all know about George’s drinking and he didn’t drink anymore. His life was changed. In that moment, God changed his life. NJ: He laid them all down for God. RP: That is amazing. What a beautiful story. Is there any-thing you want readers to know specifically? Is there one thing that you want to get across?NJ: Mine is this book. Like I said, I want the truth out about George Jones. I want everyone to know he was a kind man. I want everyone to know he was a spiritual man – that’s kind of hard to believe with the drugs and cigarettes – but he was, and I want them to know that all they’ve got to do, if they’re troubled, is reach out their hand. God’s going to grab it and He’s going to help you and He’s going to walk you through your troubles.KA: Nobody is beyond hope and God doesn’t give up on people. Nancy didn’t give up on George, and God hasn’t given up on that person that some of your readers and some of our friends are still praying for and hoping to get free from those addictions that they’re grappling with. God is on their side. He will help them if they’ll just reach out to Him, as Nancy said. We all need [encouragement] and we can all encourage somebody today.EXCERPTChapter 8 – Why Didn’t I Leave? How Did I Survive?George lunged at me, and this time, I pushed back on his chest. He was already wobbly because he was drunk, but apparently, my actions took him by surprise, because when I shoved him, he fell backwards against the heater mounted on the wall of the hotel room. The fins on the heater cut into George’s back, and he yelped in pain. “What are you doing?” he yelled.I didn’t know it, but the guests next door had called the police, and the next thing I heard was a banging on the hotel room door. I opened the door, and there stood two officers.“What’s going on in there?” the policeman asked.I opened the door wider so they could see George. I said, “Well, it’s plain and simple. He was going to slap me and I shoved him against that heater and it cut his back.”“Mm-hmm,” the officers nodded, looking at the marks on George’s back that matched the size and shape of the heater fins on the wall. “Well, George?” the officer seemed to ask for George’s side of the story.George responded, “Boy, it hurt, too!” He didn’t try to deny that he had intended to slap me or to downplay my response.“I’m sure it did, Mr. Jones,” the officer said. “Well, if you don’t mind, please keep the noise down. We’ve received some complaints.” The officers wished us well and left.George calmed down, sobered up, asked me to forgive him, and went out and did a great show that night.I knew that George and I loved each other, and I’m sure George was not afraid of me, but after I confronted his bully-spirit, he never again raised a hand toward me. Not even when he was drunk.Even when I wanted to leave, something (or maybe it was Somebody) kept saying to me, “No, don’t go. If you do, he’s gonna die.” At the time, I didn’t have sense enough to know that we were engaged in a spiritual battle. Now, when I look back at it, I realize that God and His angels were with me the whole time.Excerpt from Playin’ Possum: My Memories of George Jones by Nancy Jones with Ken Abraham (Forefront Books; September 2023). Reprinted by permission from the author. Copyright ©2023 by Nancy Jones.I promised George that I would keep his legacy alive, and I always will.

14 | ISSUE 2She is the wildly successful chairman and CEO of a multi-billion dollar apparel and home goods empire, but say the name “Kathy Ireland,” and many of us will be transported back to the ‘80s, where we envision a young woman with a thick lion’s mane of honey-colored hair and a sparkling smile in a yellow – or blue or green or red – bikini frolicking on a tropical beach. As one of the original supermodels, Kathy Ireland appeared in 13 consecutive issues of the highly anticipated Sports Illustrated annual swimsuit edition and landed three of the coveted cover spots. Surprisingly, Ireland says, “Modeling was never part of the plan.” As exciting and glamorous as it may seem, it was always a means to an end for Ireland, who aspired to be an entrepreneur. Calling herself an “aging, pregnant model,” she sat at her kitchen table in 1993 and created a sock design that was the start of her business, which would go on to become a multi-billion dollar conglomerate, known as kathy ireland® Worldwide (kiWW®), that includes fashion, health and wellness, fintech, and publishing, among other niches.The modeling industry was also where she was exposed to disordered eating (anorexia and bulimia), as well as substance abuse. Crediting her parents with having open, honest conversations with her and her two sisters, she says her faith gave her the strength to walk away from harmful situations. A devout Christian, Ireland has always had a heart for those who are suffering, which has led to her advocacy for a number of healthcare initiatives, including the Scott Newman Foundation, the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation, and the Pediatric Cancer Foundation. A self-described lifelong football fan (who starred in the 1991 football comedy Necessary Roughness), she also sits on the board of directors for NFL Players, Inc. After years of wear and tear on the body, pain Creating A (Super) Model For RecoveryFormer supermodel and businesswoman extraordinaire, Kathy Ireland, talks to Rebecca Ponton about her mentor Elizabeth Taylor, the “sixth” stage of grief, and why naloxone should be in every home.“Human beings are not intended to live in isolation; we need one another.”

15 | ISSUE 2988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and is now active across the United States. The previous Lifeline phone number (1-800-273-8255) will always remain available to people in emotional distress or suicidal crisis. Source: The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (or 988 Lifeline).management and traumatic brain injury (TBI) are real concerns for career athletes and are health care issues they may have to deal with for the rest of their lives.Her most recent initiative, one that we believe will be of particular interest to readers, is the kathy ireland Recovery Centers®, established in partnership with Ascension Recovery Services, the first of which opened in September 2021 in Laconia, New Hampshire, followed by a second location in Williamson, West Virginia, in January 2022. The goal is to create a network of treatment centers throughout the U.S. in places where there is the greatest need. Kentucky and California are under consideration as possible future locations for treatment facilities. Ireland’s family members – her husband of nearly 34 years, Greg Olsen, an ER doctor (who also happens to own a commercial fishing venture) and her mother, Barbara Ireland, a nurse – are on the front lines of healthcare. “The catalyst [for opening treatment centers] is seeing the incredible number of families and businesses being impacted by substance use disorder,” Ireland says, citing the 100,000+ overdose deaths in a 12-month period from mid-2020 to 2021, according to provisional data from the CDC’s National Center for Health Statistics. “The need is what drove us to do this.”Better, ever-evolving models for recovery are always being sought, but with skyrocketing overdose deaths largely due to illicit fentanyl, and “deaths of despair” (a term that encompasses suicide, drug overdoses, and alcohol-related diseases) that were on the rise even before the ongoing pandemic, it is imperative to create a “super model” – incorporating every tool available, in order to make treatment accessible to anyone who wants and needs it.Acknowledging that finances can be a barrier to treatment, Ireland says that one way the kathy ireland Recovery Centers® will differ from others is the emphasis on affordability while still offering the best care available. “Too often treatment is not attainable if insurance doesn’t cover it. Economics will not be a deterrent for people at the kathy ireland Treatment Centers®.” While there is an assessment process, she says, “On an individual basis, no one is turned away based on an inability to make a payment.”The legendary actress Elizabeth Taylor, a friend and mentor, greatly influenced Ireland. “Elizabeth became family,” she says. Ireland recalls Taylor being “the first person of her stature” to openly admit to seeking treatment after checking herself into the Betty Ford Center in 1983 to address her addiction to alcohol and prescription medications. Upon her release from “rehab,” as it was referred to at that time, Taylor became an activist, founding the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation. Ireland says Taylor made sure people – “the most vulnerable” – received treatment, “and that’s what we learn from Elizabeth.”The 100,000+ overdose deaths that took place in the U.S. are a stark reminder of just how vulnerable the population with substance use disorder is and naloxone (often referred to by the brand name Narcan), a medication that reverses opioid overdose, is an important tool we have in helping those who are struggling. “Making Narcan more available is critical,” Ireland says. “Substance use disorder could be happening in our own home and we might not even know it. If we have aspirin at home, why would we not [have] things that are essential [in our homes]? I think it would be wise and our goal is to make this [more] available.”As a high-powered CEO, as well as a wife and a mother to three young adult children, Ireland believes it’s “critically important” for everyone, and particularly those in recovery, to prioritize their health and wellbeing – mentally, physically, and spiritually. “Human beings are not intended to live in isolation; we need one another. Substance use disorder thrives in isolation and secrecy.”Many of us have suffered various types of losses in our lives, perhaps even more so during the pandemic, and may be somewhere in the process of the five stages of grief – denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance – based on the well-known Kübler-Ross model. Although that theory is now being questioned and examined more rigorously, Ireland believes, “The ‘sixth stage’ is in becoming stronger and in helping others.” Ireland reminds people to share the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline number (dial 988). “Know that you’re not alone; it gets better. You need to talk to someone. It’s about bringing hope to people when we are feeling hopeless and helpless. There is hope.”The original version of this article appeared in Issue 80, June 2022, of Recovery Today Magazine. Reprinted with permission. Lightly edited.