A Life In Darkness

About the Book

This book focuses on the devastating impact of drugs on our children, seen through the lense of one father’s experiences. It describes the futile and rapid descent of a child into the street environment after repeated cycles of recovery and drug use.

There is nothing more devastating to a parent and their family than to watch one of their children or family members fall prey to this illness, and then because of the grip that this disease has on the child, watch the rapid deterioration and eventual mental illness that removes the child from the reach of promise and hope and pushes them into the gates of living hell which awaits all addicts who do not by some miraculous event find a daily reprieve from this disease.

The book makes the case that for any real addict that there is no such thing as a permanent cure. The best that can be hoped for according to the author is a daily reprieve from the use of drugs based on a recovery program such as Narcotics Anonymous.

If such a daily reprieve is not found by the addict the book makes the assertion that the only outcome of drug addiction is insanity or death.

The book also is a story of the death of a child, and provides the author’s experiences, reactions and observations on recovery from what is a nightmare of an experience for any parent. Further, it makes the case that closure from the death of a child should be reached through the hard work of grieving in a healthy way, feeling the pain, reaching out to seek out the help that one needs to obtain closure. The book also encourages all parents who have experienced the death of a child to accept the fact that there is no one single way to grieve. That anything is allowed, and that there are no time limits to the grieving process.

And finally the book conveys the idea that time heals, and that there is hope for happiness and even joy once again.

About the Author

The author is William R.(Bob) Jack.

Bob is a native Californian, born January 4, 1941 in Santa Monica, California. Bob is married and presently lives in North Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife Jane.

He has two surviving children by his first marriage. James, who lives in Southern California with his wife Nery, and two children Chris and Niki and his daughter, also Niki who lives in Wyoming with her husband Dave, and two children, Zach and Rick. His youngest son Christopher about whom this book is written passed away on June 6, 1997 at the age of 23.

Bob grew up in Southern California in the San Gabriel Valley area not far from Los Angeles.

He graduated from Citrus High School, and Citrus College and received his BA Degree in Economics from California State University at Los Angeles. He later went on to earn an MBA Degree from Azusa Pacific University and a Master of Science Degree in Advanced Management from Claremont Graduate University’s Drucker School.

Bob’s career spanned 40 years in the aerospace, petroleum, academic research, nuclear energy and engineering fields. He spent the last 24 years of his career at a global engineering and construction company in Pasadena, California.

He is presently a member of the Board of the Henderson, Nevada Civitan organization which primarily assists the mentally and physically challenged.