Journey From Brooklyn

Journey From Brooklyn is a memoir. It recounts the history of his life from age 2 to 82. Born into a dysfunctional family with a mentally unstable mother and an absentee alcoholic father. The author was homeless in Brooklyn at age six, sleeping in churches and stealing food to survive. From 1944 to 1952 he sells newspapers and shines shoes in Brooklyn to provide for food and pay the $17 monthly rent. In 1952, his mother sits the author and his sister at the kitchen table and calmly tells them "I love you, but I am going to kill you now...don't worry, you are good children and you will go straight to Heaven". With butcher knife in hand, she chases the author and his sister 11 long blocks thru Brooklyn right into the 94 Police Precinct where she attacks the officer at the desk. Mrs. Garrahan is taken to Bellevue Hospital. She is confined to Brooklyn State Hospital for the Criminally Insane for 9 years. The author graduates from high school, and studies at seven universities, receiving a Master's degree from Lehigh University and a Doctoral degree from Columbia University. He conducts research on addiction and publishes numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals, as well as four books. Dr. Garrahan has been honored twice in Rose Garden ceremonies at the White House. He is the recipient of several awards and honors. His memoir is the history of a life from 'rags to riches'.