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The number of deaths due to substance abuse and addiction is difficult to calculate — the actual causes are varied, often hushed — and numbers are skewed though rising starkly. More immeasurable is the impact of these deaths on a community. Parents, friends, partners in business and life, coworkers, sons and daughters, and acquaintances of these casualties live with the grief. Their despair in turn affects everyone they contact. No community member is left unaffected by abuse of both legal and illicit drugs. The personal stories in Untimely relate experiences of people who have lost a loved one from substance abuse. These stories extend the legacies of the deceased and help survivors to deepen compassion for the afflicted and their untimely deaths. The wisdom that surfaces in these testimonials adds to the global discussion of substance abuse.
Over the course of a year, I interviewed forty-five homeless people and the advocates who work with them. This book presents their stories uncut and unfiltered. If there is a homeless caricature in the American mind, these unique and nuanced stories lay that stereotype to waste. These are among the most thoughtful, intelligent people I've met anywhere. They represent American culture in the Southwest. Many have college degrees; they are Hispanics, Native Americans, Whites, African Americans; some are legal citizens, others are not. There are men and women, gays and straights, veterans, artists, wealthy people, people with mental illness and addictions, and people who are homeless by choice. Unrepresented are Spanish-speaking-only individuals. All of the interviewees have been associated with St. Elizabeth Homeless Shelter in Santa Fe, New Mexico, at some point. All proceeds of the book will be donated to St. Elizabeth Shelter.