Of all the author stories I’ve encountered in five years, this is probably the most amazing of all. Mary Beth O’Connor is a retired federal administrative law judge who survived a childhood rife with physical, sexual and emotional abuse followed by 20 years of hard core alcohol and drug addiction. Faced with never-ending feelings of abandonment, danger and marginalization, she persevered through high school and college, made it into law school, dropped out, then rejoined finally tackling her addiction in her 30’s to become a judge. She writes about it in stark terms in her memoir From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction. Now 30 years sober and living a stable life in the San Francisco Bay area, Mary Beth tells her story with candor and self-deprecation that will hook you and reel you in. She is also an advocate or hope and recovery and offers several resources, listed below, to help those trying to overcome addiction and other trauma.
- Website: https://junkietojudge.com
- LifeRing: https://lifering.org
- SheRecovers Foundation: https://sherecovers.org
Contemporary fiction and science fiction; ebooks, softcover, hardcover and audiobooks.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Death, Sex & Money
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.