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Published: Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Speaker to discuss drug, alcohol addiction at event

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Proceeds will benefit NKRC's Neil and Marion Kennedy Founders' Fund.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

BOARDMAN — Living with drug and alcohol addiction is like dancing with an 800-pound gorilla while it's punching you in the face, said Christopher Kennedy Lawford.

Nevertheless, Lawford, 51, and sober for 19 years, considers addiction one of his greatest assets. "What changed is how I look at it," he said.

Lawford, son of actor Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy Lawford, sister of President John F. Kennedy, will be the featured speaker at the Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic's 60th Anniversary Celebration on Sept. 19 at Antone's Banquet Centre, 8578 Market St.

Lawford tells the story of his battle with drug and alcohol addiction, using his own experiences to deliver a message about attitudes and the choices involved in drug and alcohol abuse.

Also at the event, NKRC will present its 2006 Hope Has a Home Award to Carolyn Givens, director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services.

About the clinic

The nonprofit Neil Kennedy Recovery Clinic, founded in 1946 in Youngstown, is recognized as the first private free-standing nonprofit alcoholism treatment facility in the nation. NKRC affiliated with Gateway Rehab in 1999.

The NKRC celebration will begin with a reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by dinner and the program at 7 p.m. Proceeds will benefit NKRC's Neil and Marion Kennedy Founders' Fund.

The cost is $75 per person. A seat and name listing in the program is also available at $100 per person. Visit nkrc.org for information about corporate sponsorship opportunities and event details, or call (330) 744-1181 for reservations.

Lawford has shared his story during the past year with audiences throughout the country, appearing on "Larry King Live" and "Entertainment Tonight" and in newspaper and magazine stories as he traveled to promote his book, "Symptoms of Withdrawal: A Memoir of Snapshots and Redemption."

Lawford's book, which will be released in paperback this month, will be available for purchase, and he will sign books at the end of the evening's festivities.

His addiction

During a telephone interview, Lawford said he was a high-functioning addict who completed college and law school and Harvard Medical School while under the influence of drugs and alcohol much of the time.

"One of the important things for me was to maintain a facade of competency," said Lawford, who tried for nine years to get sober.

Among his purposes for going public, Lawford said, are to try to convince people that addiction is a chronic illness, much like diabetes, that affects every individual differently. Also, he said he wants to overcome the stigma in society about addiction.

Along his road to sobriety, Lawford said he learned that alcohol and drug addiction are diseases that have physical, physiological, mental and spiritual components.

He described the spiritual component as a "hole in one's soul ... a deep pain and sadness" that needs to be addressed with some type of spiritual medicine, whatever that means to the individual."

Lawford said the greatest gift of his disease has been the ability to see life in a different way. That's the whole idea of accepting a spiritual idea.

"Today, I look at the pain in my life as a great gift because, with all the pain, comes great understanding and transformation," he said.

How it started

Lawford got started on drugs when he was 13 and living in New York City.

"Three of my friends were dropping acid on the weekends. I resisted for a couple of months, and then one day I tried it. I put the acid on my tongue, and a mind-blowing eight hours later I was hooked," he said.

Lawford said he couldn't kick his addictions until what he called a "profound surrender" occurred.

"It is the greatest experience you can have as a human being. It makes everything possible. With surrender comes a humility that allows you to accept grace into your life," Lawford said.

"I had been on the floor many times, but I had always gotten up. This time, I couldn't get up on my own. I became willing to do it a different way. I called one of my relatives, and he helped me," he said.

Lawford said his basic message is that addiction is the No. 1 public health issue in the country, and it is not addressed with the attention or resources that it deserves.

alcorn@vindy.com

Tuesday, September 12, 2006