Born into comfort but shaped by adversity, Privilege Interrupted: My Brother's Keeper is a powerful, unflinching memoir about resilience, identity, and the cost-and responsibility-of compassion.
Louis A. Fazio, Jr. grew up navigating a world not built for him. Living with cerebral palsy, he faced institutionalization, family conflict, systemic barriers, and the isolating realities of being both disabled and gay. Yet his story is not one of limitation-it is one of perseverance, advocacy, and hard-won independence.
Co-authored with Matthias J. Mahoney, this deeply human narrative explores caregiving, faith, chosen family, and the transformative power of allyship. Through education battles, professional setbacks, love, loss, and enduring friendship, Louis reclaims agency and purpose in a society still learning what inclusion truly means.
Timely and deeply relevant, Privilege Interrupted speaks to readers passionate about disability rights, social justice, LGBTQ+ stories, and authentic memoirs that challenge assumptions-and call us to do better.
At six months old, Louis Fazio, Jr.-a child of privilege-was diagnosed with spastic cerebral palsy. Living with cerebral palsy, he faced institutionalization, family conflict, systemic barriers, and the isolation of being both disabled and gay. At six years old, he was institutionalized, traumatically separated from his family. At nine, his father attempted to drown him. At fifteen, he became one of the first students in a wheelchair to be mainstreamed in regular public high school. At forty, he narrowly escaped from an exploding van as the flames were pulled apart by the hands of Jesus. Now, sixty-two, Louis shares the story of his life, tragic and triumphant, revealing the responses to God's question to him, his family, society, and the Church: Who is my brother's keeper?
Matthias Mahoney was born and raised in Austin, Texas, the middle of five kids. Matthias loves learning languages and telling stories-and continually discovering the amazing story he finds himself a part of. He set out for Tucson, Arizona to get his undergraduate degree in linguistics at the University of Arizona. He began helping Louis Fazio, Jr. as a scribe, then personal care assistant, and now co-author and brother in the Blessed Mother. It was during his time living in Tucson that Matthias also embraced the call to pursue religious life and the priesthood in the Catholic Church.
