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Greg’s envied life before sobriety was one of booze, drugs, sex, and rock & roll. Raised in California in a family rife with alcoholism, dysfunctional behavior infested his home during his childhood and adolescent years. Struggling to fit in among kids his age, Greg joined in their antics and began drinking and smoking marijuana by the time he was 14. That, plus his passion for rock music, helped him through his teenage years, though he drank much more heavily than his peers. Greg started a successful band at 18, only to be fired from it by band members who he thought drank as much as he did. His proclivity for over-shooting the mark became a theme in Greg’s life and early career, along with multiple divorces and trouble with the law. Fortunately, his functional alcoholism, during his years as a drummer, and later as a record company executive, allowed him to evade serious consequences. In fact, his very profession in the music industry seemed to tolerate, and often ignore, his deleterious behavior. But the inevitable downhill slide accelerated in Greg’s personal life, until a drunken assault of family member of one of his failed marriages landed him in trouble with the law from which there was no escape, save Alcoholics Anonymous. Inpatient treatment, followed by court-ordered AA, provided Greg with enough clarity of thought to propel him into the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous nearly 26 years ago. He quickly embraced the Program and found the guiding hands that drew him into an active practice of AA recovery and continuous service to his fellows.
These days, Greg is as busy as ever, though a reshuffling of his priorities over the years has placed AA, and sobriety at the top of his list. The spiritual awakening he has experienced both informs his work with new-comers and those he sponsors. To hear Greg share today, many might find his pre-sobriety story nothing short of incredulous. But to like who’ve shared on this show and those who have listened on a regular basis, nothing is surprising or unusual about a Greg’s lively travails on the road of happy destiny. It’s what we recovering alcoholics do.
So relax and enjoy listening to the next hour and ten minutes of AA Recovery Interviews with my friend and AA brother, Greg S.
If you’ve enjoyed my AA Recovery Interviews series and my Big Book podcast, have a listen to Lost Stories of the Big Book, 30 Original Stories Missing from the 3rd and 4th Editions of Alcoholics Anonymous. It’s an engaging audiobook I narrated to bring these stories to life for AA members who’ve never seen them. These timeless testimonials were originally cut to make room for newer stories in the 3rd and 4th Editions. But their vitally important messages of hope are as meaningful today as when they were first published. Many listeners will hear these stories for the first time. Lost Stories of the Big Book is available on Audible, Amazon, and iTunes. It’s also available as a Kindle book and in Paperbackfrom Amazon if you’d like to read along with the audio.
I also invite you to check out my latest audio book, “Alcoholics Anonymous: The Story of How More Than One Hundred Men Have Recovered From Alcoholism”. This is the word-for-word, cover-to-cover reading of the First Edition of the Big Book, published in 1939. It’s a comfortable, meaningful, and engaging way to listen to the Big Book anytime, anyplace. Have a free listen at Audible, i-Tunes, or Amazon.
[Disclaimer: AA Recovery Interviews podcast strictly adheres to AA’s 12 Traditions and all General Service Office guidelines for safe-guarding anonymity on-line. I pay all podcast production costs and no one receives financial gain from the show. AA Recovery Interviews and my guests do not speak for or represent AA at-large. This podcast is simply my way of giving back to AA that which has been so freely given to me. -Howard L.]