Writer’s
Block airs every Tuesday, at 9 a.m. MST on KFUN/KLVF, streaming live at www.kfunonline.com
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Jew in Jail, the story of
recovery one day at a time
Before
Gary Goldstein was convicted following the commission of three robberies, he
worked for major broadcasting and production companies in New York. Since his
release from prison in 2004 after serving a six-year sentence, he has written a
book about his recovery from various addictions and the trials he endured while
incarcerated. Jew in Jail is a story
about the triumph of the human spirit. He is a writer, motivational speaker,
and one-man band playing the music of hope.
Gary was raised in Brooklyn, an over-achiever who wanted
everyone to like him. His athletic skill led him to be a favorite pick for
sports teams and after-school pick-up games at the park. Even though he had no
interest in drugs and alcohol, it wasn’t long before he started taking part in
the after-game beer drinking and occasional marijuana toke.
“I was a follower. I just wanted to be liked,” he said, so
he went along with what was happening around him.
As an intern at a broadcast station in New York while he was
in college, he found himself watching all kinds of professional and other
sports. “I thought I had it figured out and started making bets.” One thing led
to another and before long he was deeply in debt, using drugs and generally out
of control. Following his arrest and conviction he was faced with a six-year
prison term and a big wake up call. He thought he was on the road to recovery and did well for a year and a half after
being released from prison in 2004. One day he decided one drink wouldn’t hurt, that he could
handle it.
“That was my final relapse, I hope. I just woke
up one morning and asked myself, what am I doing? This is not what I was born
to do. I walked into an outpatient drug clinic and signed up. I attended for a year and half, six more months than was
required, and now I’m president of alumni association. Now I’m helping other
people.”
Gary goes wherever he’s invited to talk about the danger of
addiction, but his message is really about hope. Addition is a disease. “I’m in
remission, but like the program says, I live one day at a time. I tell myself,
listen I can go the next 24 hours. I get through that day and say it all over
again.”
The perception that Jewish people are bright, success
oriented and typically above doing drugs and alcohol is stereotyping from a
different perspective. Gary said he took a lot of ribbing, was discriminated against and received negative
comments from guards and fellow prisoners because he was a Jew in jail. “It’s
not like this was something I chose to do (being a substance abuser who ended
up in jail). He also figured out that it’s nothing to be ashamed of. He knew he had
an illness; he asked for help. “I knew I needed help. See, here I was, a tough guy from Brooklyn, I could handle it, but addiction
is the heavyweight champ of the world, the undisputed champion waiting to
pounce. I couldn’t do it on my own, nobody can.”
Gary’s motivational speaking is intended to reach out and
help others, but he said it helps him as well. When he gives back, he gets something in return, healing and focus.
One of Gary’s most heartbreaking moments came when he
learned of the death of his father while he was waiting for the legal system to
take its course. “I couldn’t go to the funeral. That’s something I live with my
whole life.”
Jew in Jail, was written to help others, and to honor Gary’s father,
who, along with his mother, stood by Gary through everything. He began writing
while he was still in prison, keeping a journal in which he recorded his
thoughts and experiences. He said after the first couple of years he started to
regain self-esteem. “It helped me see the progress I was making.
What he’s learned about himself is the he is a decent human
being and that he didn’t have to please other people to be happy.
Jew in Jail is available on Gary's website, www.jewinjail.com.
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