David Magee

David Magee is a bestselling author, nationally recognized speaker, producer, and a leading voice in recovery and student and family well-being.

His family lost its way to addiction, including the death of his oldest son, William. They found recovery and rebuilt their lives with deeper purpose. That experience drives his work helping students, families, and organizations find their footing in the middle of the country's mental health and substance misuse crisis.

His memoir Dear William: A Father's Story of Addiction, Recovery, Love, and Loss is now being made into a feature film directed by Andrew Hyatt, with David producing under the name David D. Magee. The book is the foundation of national work in opioid abatement and community mental health, and helped launch The William Magee Center for AOD and Wellness Education at the University of Mississippi, which he helped create and which other institutions are now modeling. His forthcoming book Walk With Me: A Father and Son Find Their Way Together, expands on that work — exploring how resilience and vulnerability turn pain into purpose.

David is founder and CEO of The Magee Foundation, which uses storytelling to break stigma around addiction and mental illness.

He speaks to audiences nationwide — schools, universities, healthcare systems, churches, corporations — about building lives and communities worth living in.

Previously, David was a daily newspaper publisher, a media company president, a small business owner, and a regular CNBC guest. He and his wife Kent, a yoga for addiction teacher, live in Oxford, Mississippi.