Mike S. at the FOTS Colorado – 2025

About This Speaker Tape

FOTS Colorado - 2025

A Vietnam vet with a history of bouncers' work and mob-adjacent hustling in San Francisco's North Beach Mike S. describes a life once defined by felony warrants and a rolling pin beating that left him bleeding on the floor. He recounts the brutal clarity of his early sobriety in Denver where he was welcomed by 'Big Frank,' a sponsor who didn't sugarcoat the process and insisted on a rigid adherence to the Big Book. Mike details the terrifying act of turning himself into the San Francisco Police Department and the surreal experience of making a ninth-step amend to a mob boss named Gino. Through the loss of his daughter to fentanyl and the memory of his friend Bob O. Mike argues that sobriety isn't about feeling good but about the hard work of becoming a responsible man and accessing a power greater than himself.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Mike S. opens with his April Fool's sobriety date and mentions his wife.
• 4:15 Laughter: Mike discusses the 'seven-year' danger zone for relapse.
• 7:30 Mike describes his childhood trauma and his father's meanness.
• 12:45 Mike recounts his time as a 'rounder' and bouncer in San Francisco's North Beach.
• 18:20 The rolling pin beating and the realization that he feared sobriety more than death.
• 24:10 Meeting 'Big Frank' and the start of his sobriety on Frank's couch.
• 31:00 Discussion of the Big Book and the 'Step-Nazis' in Florida.
• 36:40 Step 9: Turning himself into the SFPD and facing the mob in North Beach.
• 45:10 Mike discusses the loss of his daughter to a fentanyl overdose.
• 52:00 Closing prayer and reflections on the Vietnam vet from 60 Minutes.