Of Your Books, Which Is Your Favorite?

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Which book that you’ve written is your favorite?
It’s a question I get asked a lot. 
Answering it isn’t as easy as you might think. For an author, picking a favorite book is a little like asking a father if he loves one of his children more than the others. That’s an exaggeration, of course, but when you spend several years of your life consumed in writing a book, the finished manuscript becomes much more to its creator than ink, paper, or in today’s world, electronic text.

What Advice Would You Give? What Advice Do You Wish Someone Would Have Given You?

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  A family friend stopped by unexpectedly and began to cry the moment she entered our house. She explained that her son had been diagnosed with a serious mental illness.

She asked me for advice.

It’s easy for those of us who have been dealing with mental disorders for many years to forget how we felt the first time we learned that someone we loved had a brain disorder. But seeing my friend in distress instantly reminded me of how confused, angry and hopeless I had felt when Mike first became ill.

What advice could I share with her? What advice do I wish someone had given me?

Putin says “Traitors always end badly” But “illegals” can end up in Playboy

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“Traitors always end badly. They finish up as drunks, addicts, on the street…”
This is what Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said recently during a visit in the Ukraine. He also told reporters that he had met earlier in Moscow with the ten Russian “illegals” who had been expelled from the U.S. for being agents of the Russian government.
While Putin said the illegals would “have interesting, bright lives,” he explained that traitors never are happy after they betrayed their homelands.

We Need To Talk To Each Other If We Want Reform

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Those of us who are working to reform our fractured mental health system need to begin talking to each other. 
During my travels, I’ve visited many communities where there is little or no communication. The police don’t talk to local providers who take care of persons with mental disorders and substance abuse issues. These providers don’t talk to parents. And no one talks to the persons who are actually sick. 
Okay, I’m being a bit facetious — but my point is spot on.
Rather than cooperating, each faction does what it always has done and ignores how tax dollars could be saved and how people could be better treated through community collaboration.

Playing Pete Earley and a Supreme Court Justice

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A funny thing happened recently  when a man approached me after I gave a speech and said: “Hi, I’m Pete Earley.”  

A radio interview with Helen Tretyakov

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Because there has been much speculation about Sergei Tretyakov’s death, I am posting this link to an interview with his wife, Helen.  Click here.