Author Patrick O'Neil is not only one of AfterPartyChat's most talented authors; he's also a former roadie, author of the forthcoming memoir Gun Needle Spoon and alumni of what he calls "several bad bands." And boy did this guy love heroin: he shot it for 10 years, only taking a respite to shoot speed because he thought it would cut down on his heroin cravings (and it did!) That love for heroin took him to some extreme places—most notably bank robbing, a topic he's written about here, and which eventually got him busted and sent to jail. Though jail was a reunion of sorts with his former junkie pals, he managed to get strung out there as well. After a behavior modification program left him sober but without any support system, O'Neil eventually turned up at the Salvation Army rehab in San Francisco and, despite these low-bottom circumstances, has stayed sober nearly 14 years. In this episode, he and AfterParty's Anna David talk about his struggles with bulimia, getting kicked off of Lollapalooza and just how badly executed his last bank robbery was, among many other topics.
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Recovery coach and one of the stars of the A&E show Relapse, Patty Powers has led what in any context or circles would be called an interesting life. Growing up in Canada, she experimented first with acid but when she moved to New York City at the age of 17, graduated right to heroin. And rest assured she was doing the whole underground New York deal: living at the Chelsea Hotel, hanging out at CBGB's and even working with Andy Warhol. Of course, the fabulous life had to unravel at some point and unravel it did—to the point when Powers was living in an abandoned building, getting robbed by her homeless friends and planning to kill one of her abandoned building "housemates." Now sober 26 years, Powers has managed to build up a massive business as a recovery coach, traveling the world with musicians and other clients and helping them to stay sober while also working on more creative pursuits (including writing for AfterPartyChat). In this episode, she and AfterParty's Anna David discuss how hard she had to try to get someone to shoot her up for the first time, changing limiting beliefs we have about what our lives can be and combining creative work with business pursuits, among many other topics.
Photo courtesy of AfterPartyChat