Recovering from a drug addiction is a tremendous feat. Overcoming a drug habit and starting an innovative dependency program for prisoners within the San Mateo County, California, judicial system is nothing short of miraculous.
Shirley LaMarr has accomplished these things and more in her sixty-seven years of life. The cofounder of the Choices program, as well as the founder of Mz. Shirlez Transitional Housing Centre, she might appear to be just another pleasant woman on her way to a church social, but more than likely, she's on her way to jail to help the inmates.
Not Without Scars: The Story of Shirley LaMarr is the remarkable true story of one woman's journey from a life of drug addiction, living on the streets, crime, and prostitution to establishing a life-changing drug program that helps addicts become contributing members of society.
In the vein of Tweak: Growing Up on Methamphetamines by Nic Sheff, Not Without Scars goes far beyond the usual redemption story. The details of her early life are nothing short of shocking. By all rights she should be dead. But the profoundly uplifting and inspirational second half of her life is marked by an intense mission to help others.
About the Author: Jim Dekker recently completed a forty-year career teaching English at Saint Ignatius College Preparatory in San Francisco.
He has written several magazine stories, including "Access Denied: A Story of Addiction and a San Francisco Surfer." Two of his stories, "Meeting Jimmy Faulkner, Nephew of William Faulkner" and "Swimming the Golden Gate," appeared in Genesis IV magazine.
A member of the Hemingway Society and the Faulkner Society, Dekker currently lives with his wife Lorraine in Daly City, California.
