A MEMOIR
By Gary Swoboda
"Hungry Tigers is a sometimes-tragic, often-humorous, but always-forthright depiction of the author's years of addiction and the recovery that saved his life. From experimentation with drugs in the late sixties to a series of electric shock treatments in a psych ward in the early seventies, the author openly relates the fears, anxieties, and depression that led him there. Finding no relief through accepted medical means, he embarked on a lengthy journey of alcohol and drug abuse, culminating in an addiction to heroin that shattered any lingering illusions of a functional existence. There is light at the end of the tunnel, however, as this seemingly hopeless addict finds sobriety at a time when some who are heartbreakingly close to him find only devastation."
HUNGRY TIGERS
A CANDID ACCOUNT OF ADDICTION AND RECOVERY
Cover Art by Rob Hanewall
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
My wife Judy and I have lost two sons to addiction.
Both boys were beautiful, loving, kind human beings whose lives were senselessly cut short. Though they were my stepsons, I loved them as if they were my own. Michael, the oldest, was stabbed to death in a park in Los Angeles in 1995. Casey, the youngest, died of a heroin overdose in our Gresham, Oregon home in 2005. I'll never forget the pain of having to tell my wife, twice, that we had lost sons. Both times I thought she would die in my arms. Her agony haunts me deeper than anything I've ever known...
I also lost a lifelong friend to a heroin overdose (on heroin I had bought for us) the night before I checked myself into rehab in March of 1999. I have been clean and sober since.
Not everyone need die or have their lives and the lives of their loved ones decimated by addiction. I hope that in some small way my story of recovery, and the stories of the loved ones we've lost, will encourage others who are mired in their addiction to seek help, for there IS help. And where there is life, there is hope.
I wish you peace, always.
Gary Swoboda
Gary Swoboda was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, and continues to reside in the area with his wife, Judy. He's been a volunteer with treatment programs in hospitals and prisons for a number of years, sharing his experience and hope regarding recovery from addiction. This is his first book.
