The Genetic Predisposition He Saw at Age Five — Tom D.

About This Speaker Tape

A five-year-old boy in Bel Air, kneeling on a thick beer can to crush it for his father's approval, unknowingly signs a contract with a genetic predisposition. Tom D. describes a childhood where wine was a staple at the table and "cordial" drinking was the family norm.

By fourteen, he was purloining fifths of whiskey from the maid and crashing into the kitchen like a shot-down jet. The trajectory shifted from rebellious truancy to a ruinous cycle of heroin, stimulants, and armed robbery. He spent his twenties and thirties in a revolving door of county jails and state prisons, treating tequila like a drug to blunt the edges of withdrawal.

The wreckage culminated at age thirty-six with a third felony conviction and a life sentence in maximum security. In the bleakness of a permanent cell, Tom found a Higher Power through prison AA and a sponsor who helped him trade a toolkit of knives and deception for a life of humble service.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 Introduction by Howard L. outlining Tom D.'s history of addiction and crime
• 11:14 Tom describes his childhood in Bel Air and the rite of passage of smashing beer cans for his father
• 22:42 Discussion on the progression from alcohol to heroin and the 'monster' of addiction
• 32:56 Tom recounts being kidnapped at age 20 and his first short-lived attempt at sobriety
• 48:28 Details on the third felony robbery leading to a life sentence
• 57:10 Finding a Higher Power and a sponsor while incarcerated at the Ellis unit
• 1:06:24 The 'free soup' project and using service to maintain sobriety in prison
• 1:13:45 Parole process in 2008 and the miracle of his release