He's been Mr. In-Between from birth, the middle child in a family of five siblings. His father is a practical steel-mill worker, his mother a free spirit who considers dullness the only true sin. Loving both, trying to please both, leaves him torn between their ideals.
A promising athletic career provides opportunity for a college education, but clashes with his youthful reliance on street reputation and toughness. A need for connection, for a sense of place, struggles against the urge to explore and take risks. By the time he's ten, he's drinking and spiraling into a world of severe substance abuse.
Ricocheting between addiction and sobriety creates a state of constant flux, where holding the middle ground between extremes proves impossible. An end to his pinball-like progression through life is inevitable, but can a man used to living life to the extreme find any lasting peace?
A powerful, fictionalized memoir fueled by Bob Kearney's personal experiences, Mr. In-Between offers a realistic and poignant view of the uneven struggle between addiction and recovery.
About the Author: Bob Kearney knows the trials and struggles of addiction recovery firsthand. Between the ages of thirteen and twenty-five, he lived with debilitating drug and alcohol abuse, requiring treatment at an in-patient facility in Newtown, Pennsylvania, in 1975. In 2012, he underwent a liver transplant at California Pacific Medical Center.
Today, Bob is married, lives in Sacramento, California, and holds a master's degree in social work. He works with foster children in Sacramento, and has finally found his own place in life.
