The last time David Magee saw his son alive, William told him to write their family’s story in the hopes of helping others. Days later, David found William dead from an accidental drug overdose. Magee addresses his poignant story to all those who will benefit from better understanding substance misuse so that his hard-earned wisdom can save others from the fate of his late son, William.

With honesty and heart, Magee shares his family’s intergenerational struggle with substance abuse and mental health issues, as well as his own reckoning with family secrets—confronting the dark truth about the adoptive parents who raised him and a decades-long search for identity. He wrestles with personal substance misuse that began at a young age and, as a father, he sees destructive patterns repeat and develop within his own children. While striving to find a truly authentic voice as a writer despite authoring nearly a dozen previous books, Magee ultimately understands that William had been right and their own family’s history is the story he needs to tell. 

About David Magee: David Magee is an award-winning columnist, author, inspirational speaker, and the Director of Institute Advancement at the University of Mississippi. He is a change-maker on alcohol and other drug wellness education and support and wellbeing. He helped inspire and create the William Magee Center for Wellness Education at the University of Mississippi, named for his late son and designed to improve lives with new solutions.

Formerly a columnist for Newsweek, and a former daily newspaper and magazine publisher and a vice president of Alabama Media Group, David is the author of a dozen books including How Toyota Became #1, named a Top 10 Business Book of the Year from the American Library Association, and  The Education of Mr. Mayfield, a best book of the South (2009), and he has been a regular guest on CNBC.

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