For Immediate Release                                                                                Contact:

                                                                                                                      Bill Brown, (602) 315-7523         

                                                                                                                      Drew Wathey, (602) 482-2738

 

 

3rd ANNUAL ART OF RECOVERY EXPO TO FOCUS ON

LIFE-SAVING PROGRAMS THAT PROVIDE HELP AND HOPE

Expo Co-Founder Bill Brown’s Remarkable Journey Provides Inspiration For All

 

            PHOENIX, Arizona (June 19, 2007) – Born into a middle European family where Sunday dinners consisted of food and drinks, the alcoholic version, is still vivid in the mind of Bronx, New York native Bill Brown. He can still feel the pain and anxiety of seeing his father drunk on most of those family occasions. “Alcoholism is passed on from generation to generation not only genetically, but behaviorally as well,” said the 65-year old Brown. “Being exposed to that kind of atmosphere early on in my life meant it was going to be very easy for me to follow in my father’s footsteps and that’s exactly what I did.”

            After his first taste of wine at the tender age of four, Brown matured to the harder stuff, beer, scotch and vodka as drinking quickly became his best friend as a teenager. “Johnny Walker and I could accomplish anything back then, or at least that’s what I thought,” recalled Brown. “Drinking was more acceptable during my adolescence and I, like so many other alcoholics drank for the effect. It would also mask many of my insecurities.”

            Brown’s stories along with thousand of others who have battled their own personal demons whether it’s alcoholism, drug addiction, gambling problems and other addictive behaviors will be discussed at the 3rd annual Art of Recovery Expo, September 29 at the Phoenix Convention Center. It is free to the general public and will feature well over 100 exhibitors, workshops and nearly 5,000 attendees, most seeking a path to self-revitalization and rejuvenation. The Expo also provides a valuable

resource to Arizona’s programs that are available for teens, parents, community leaders and teachers.

“Many times, people in need feel hopelessly lost and of course there’s always the stigma of feeling shunned by society,” said Brown. “For those who seek, they shall find at The Art of Recovery Expo. We have well established practitioners in almost every field and so far in just two short years, we have literally changed hundreds of people’s lives by providing an educational and self-preservation outlet for people needing help.”

            One of those people needing help was Bill Brown. While his alcoholism would spiral out of control at times, Brown was still able to function in his professional life. After being educated in chemistry at Hofstra, a public university on Long Island, Brown found himself in his late-20’s with a successful career in sales and marketing selling plastics and chemicals nationally for J. B. Henriques, a subsidiary of ICI. With the success came a lot of cash. “I was going wild then, booze, women and drugs. The lifestyle was self-destructive and at times dangerous, but this alcoholic wasn’t afraid of dying, he was afraid of living.” Now, married and with a young son, Brown, just 30 years old went on another one of his drinking binges and ended up in a place not unfamiliar to the alcoholic: jail. “I went berserk one night, got into a fight and was thrown in jail for about 6 hours. When my wife and son showed up to take me home, I looked into my son’s eyes and knew I had a problem. I quickly enrolled into a sobriety program and stayed sober for about four months,” said Brown.

            But, as the teachings of 12 Step Programs will adeptly point out, for the alcoholic, there is no intellectual defense against drinking, ‘so one night I was faced with a test,’ said Brown. “A vodka and tonic drink was sitting nearby and sure enough I failed it miserably. That one drink set me off to the races. I had 11 more drinks that night and I wasn’t sober for another 17 years.”

            Brown’s problems extended well beyond the bottle. After suffering the second of his two heart

attacks in the late 80’s, the Head of Cardiology at the University if Virginia told Brown that if he didn’t

stop drinking, he’d be dead within three months. Undeterred, Brown was drunk two hours after he left the hospital. A brief stint in a mental institution and a failed multi-million dollar business left Brown a shell of a man. “12 Step Programs also tell us that we are powerless, you have to be insane to drink,” said Brown. “I couldn’t stop drinking on will power alone. The only way to remove the compulsion is to have a spiritual re-birth and accept a higher power as the defense against all evils, especially alcohol.”

            Brown’s newfound freedom led him on a road to recovery nearly 18 years ago and with the help of third wife Barbara, has been a changed man ever since. “I have the greatest life now that I could ever have imagined,” said Brown. “For a time there, I was totally bankrupt in every aspect of life, but I fell in love with being sober and it’s the greatest feeling ever.”

            Both Bill and Barbara, a recovering alcoholic herself share the 12 steps every day. Attending 12 Step meetings at least 3-4 times a week, Brown still treasures the time spent at these meetings. “It’s fantastic now helping someone else on their path to sobriety and self-recovery. I have been meeting with the same guys for about 14 years now every Monday night and it’s just been great. These guys are some of my best friends now.”

            During his early days of sobriety, Brown would literally walk miles around the Valley of the Sun and when he would see a Circle K or 7-11 with a liquor sign, he would quickly walk to the other side of the street to avoid temptation. “Little things brought me happiness back then, even the menial jobs I was working at, sometimes for as little as $4 an hour,” said Brown.

            After undergoing successful quintuple bypass surgery in 2003, Brown’s fairy tale road to

recovery hit another bump recently, an early diagnosis of throat cancer. But with a contagious and ebullient spirit, Brown has once again overcome the odds and is well on his way to a clean and healthy future. “Not once did I ever think about taking a drink to help me through my troubles. I’m in a great place right now and all of my focus now is on helping people receive the treatment they need or direct them to a much-needed program or doctor to turn their lives around. It can be done. Just look at me. I was down and out, but like the city we live in, I rose like a phoenix from the ashes to live again and boy am I living! It’s been a remarkable journey and God-willing there will be many more chapters yet to be told.”      

            For more information on the 3rd annual Art of Recovery Expo, visit the event web site at www.artofrecoveryexpo.com or call (480) 767-7880.