Walking the Talk to Sobriety – One man’s story of courage and commitment
When Jeffrey Taylor looks back on his life, he knows that God or one of his angels intervened on a cold, snowy night in New York when he was found by police in a gutter, stripped of his clothes. This was the lowest moment in his life – the deciding factor that made him face his demons and make a choice to take back control of his life, facing the reality that he is an alcoholic.
Jeffrey began drinking at the age of twelve after some tough times in his Jewish neighborhood in New Jersey. A Gentleman Drunk (Executive Caliber) is a first-rate biography of a once highly functioning man who allowed his alcohol addiction to destroy his marriage and his financial security, leaving him a broken, lonely soul. It is an incredible story of the road to recovery and survival, despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles and challenges, in order to conquer the debilitating effects of alcoholism. This real-life drama is written with wit and brutal honesty and there is no sugar-coating the very real drama in this man’s love/hate relationship with alcohol and the battle he endured to finally conquer it.
Jeffrey’s story tells of many things that contributed to his addiction; his flawed relationship with his father, his life at college and the painful details of fraternity initiation rituals, selling drugs, studying music in France, graduate school in Chicago, on to landing a high paying bank job in New York City. He tells of his daily ritual at a local bar after work where fellow yuppies hung out, drinking more heavily and picking up strangers. He meets a girl, relocates to San Francisco with her where they marry and have a daughter. Now he is working 24/7, making lots of money, still drinking up a storm, and decides to relocate to North Carolina in order to better his consulting skills. Now pregnant with their second child, his wife is forced to end the relationship knowing that his workaholic ways and constant drinking aren’t about to change. Unrepentant about his irresponsible behavior, Jeffrey heads down to Club Med Cancun where he meets Toby, a woman he obsessively pursues until she agrees to return to New York and marry him, but even this doesn’t fill the painful void in him. After several years of traveling around the world, lecturing by day and entertaining by night, and not being able to stand Toby’s criticism of his drinking, he comes full circle on the night he ends up in the gutter – when he is forced to admit he has a drinking problem and seeks help from Alcoholics Anonymous.
Jeffrey Taylor is now a recovering alcoholic with six years of sobriety and has spoken on this subject to audiences around the world. He knows that alcoholism does not discriminate – it transcends many walks of life and knows no boundaries on where it inflicts its pain. His first AA meeting was terrifying but by his 60th day he knew he must give himself up to a higher power – he could not stop drinking on his own. He accepted guidance from his sponsor, worked his twelve step program, transforming day by day and helping others on their journey to freedom from alcohol. Visit Jeffrey’s free and informative website at www.Alcohol411.info.
Jeffrey’s life is an amazing success story. He is the founder of Jeffrey Taylor Group, a holding company for various operating businesses, and has published two textbooks for the equipment leasing industry and one on starting a new business, and still finds time to teach several commercial real estate courses.
