Many Faces, One Voice: Secrets from The Anonymous People - Softcover

Mikhitarian, Bud; Williams, Greg

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1937612937 ISBN 13: 9781937612931

Publisher: Central Recovery Press, 2015

Synopsis

Many Faces, One Voice is a must-read companion book to the award-winning film The Anonymous People. The book shares the intimate and inspiring stories of people in recovery from addiction who have exposed their secrets to light and are fighting to erase stigma and discrimination. In exclusive interviews, celebrities, politicians, recovery leaders and advocates tell their personal stories in brutally honest and breathtaking detail, as they confront the paradox of anonymity and reveal the hope and power of recovery.

"Greg Williams’ powerful documentary, The Anonymous People, helped change the public’s view of the world of people in recovery and those who love them, opening the doors to a new understanding of the usually-hidden process of saving yourself from addiction. The new book Many Faces One Voice takes the messages of that film to the next level, with even more powerful testimony and insight from an incredible group of brave, open souls. A moving, challenging and revealing portrait of the world of recovery today and tomorrow.”
--Patrick Kennedy, Former Congressman, primary sponsor of the Mental Health Parity and Addictions Equity Act, Founder, The Kennedy Forum

Many Faces, One Voice is a collection of insights for individuals, families and everyone affected by America’s number one health problem, and opens secrets to healing ourselves and our society.

Bud Mikhitarian is an award-winning filmmaker and a producer of The Anonymous People film.

Greg Williams is the director of The Anonymous People.

About this title

About the Author:

Written by Bud Mikhitarian is an award-winning writer, producer, and director in broadcast news, film documentaries and web programs. Teamed with his brother, Craig, their work has earned many honors over the years, including Emmys, Tellys, and an Academy Award nomination. Bud, Craig and director Greg Williams comprised the crew who drove throughout the country to film The Anonymous People, for which Bud served as a writer, producer and sound recordist. He also writes children’s stories, loves sports and lives in Connecticut with his wife, a film and TV costume designer, and their two daughters. Foreword by Greg Williams is the director of the award-winning documentary film, The Anonymous People.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Foreword

My name is Greg Williams and I am person in long-term recovery from addiction to alcohol and other drugs since age seventeen. My recovery was established” in 2001. As a result of my personal freedom from addiction, not only have I stayed alive in the face of the most deadly health problem facing young people in America today, but I have thrived. I have been blessed with incredible opportunities to learn, chase dreams, and live a life full of purpose.

The Anonymous People became one of my dreams fulfilled and it continues to live on with purpose, thanks to the support and collaboration of many talented and resourceful people. One of those was Bud Mikhitarian. As the man behind the sound recording for every interview we conducted across the country, and as a person not in long-term recovery, Bud is the only person on the planet who could write a book about the making of the film with such depth and perspective.

Words cannot adequately express my deep gratitude to Bud, not only for his initiative and hard work putting this book together, but also for his incredible talent as a storyteller. I hope that when people see The Anonymous People and read this book, they will connect with the powerful stories we have captured and share these stories with others.

We must keep shining a light on what recovery gives back to our communities. We must keep pushing the agenda of the new recovery advocacy movement forward.
Sadly, more than four decades after the groundbreaking United States Senate hearings of 1969 hosted by Senator Harold Hughes, where Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes McCambridge and co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, Bill Wilson both in long-term recovery spoke candidly to our national elected representatives about the public stigmatization of alcoholics, discrimination still persists. People with addiction are still blamed and shamed by their so-called moral weaknesses.

The Anonymous People and now this book aim to be a part of the solution that erodes a bit of this perpetual, insidious stigma. People in recovery from addiction, our families, and allies have a duty to respond to the ignorance, prejudice, and injustice that continue to pervade our culture. Lives depend on it. In spite of a broken system and failed community response, many of us have been given the gift of recovery and that can have profound cultural, political, healthcare, criminal justice, and economic implications.

Bill White says, We will shape the future of recovery with a detached silence or with a passionate voice.”

The voices of recovery come from people of many different colors, ages, and backgrounds, but our message is pretty simple. We are a group of people who have battled (individually or collectively) and survived arguably the most devastating health problem of our time and now live dynamic, productive lives just like people who are managing diabetes, heart disease, or cancer.

Too few people are aware that through recovery more than twenty-three million of us have gotten well, families have been reunited, and our communities have been the ultimate beneficiary. Congress does not believe we exist in such significant numbers (yet), and the media continues to ignore this giant facet of the addiction story. It is our duty to share our stories with a unified message to a new audience so that future generations can live free from the greatest barriers to recovery stigma, shame, and discrimination.

No matter how addiction has touched your life, I invite you read the inspiring stories in this book and to consider becoming one of the many faces sharing your own story in harmony with a growing chorus of revolutionaries.

Greg Williams, Director of The Anonymous People

About this edition

• Publisher: Central Recovery Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 1937612937
• ISBN 13: 9781937612931
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 400