A Boy Named Jim

The silence and reluctance of author James A. Lynch's youth has been left behind; he has become a storyteller in the true form of grandfathers everywhere. In <i>A Boy Named Jim</i> he provides a look into slices of his life.This memoir presents the true story of Lynch's journey from the innocence of childhood in a small midwestern town; through the rollicking good times of the teenage years college and navy life; through thirty years of the dark depths of chronic alcoholism; and finally through the process of recovery and sobriety. <i>A Boy Named Jim</i> tells of Lynch's heartbreaks and failures as well as the miracles and faith that brought him back to reality to live the life of a spiritually peaceful and gracious old man.<i>That morning ... I finally realized what I had become what I was and what I probably would always be: a hopeless helpless drunk. I didn't amount to anything never had and never would. I feared I would probably die in a drunken stupor somewhere or I would be permanently institutionalized. I didn't realize until sometime later lying cut and bruised in a strange basement I had been granted two important things: a moment of clarity and the gift of desperation. </i>