Sober over 20 years since 2/19/1974, born in Dayton, OH to an Irish Catholic family with many alcoholics including his mother, Doug believed, when he became a doctor, that he could never become alcoholic like his mother.
At 19 he went to medical school, did well, but had a dangerous, infrequent love affair with alcohol - it quieted the inner restlessness of the "woulda-been, coulda-been man" - though he would not have been able to voice that at the time.
He was part of the NASA team that selected the original astronauts and partied with them.
Prescription medicine became "medical ping pong", taking free samples sent to his office.
Doug, after he got sober, helped found two recovery facilities in the Atlanta area:
The Ridgeview Institute in Smyrna, GA - nationally recognized and respected
and later,
The Talbott Recovery Campus, a facility specifically for alcoholic professionals.
Doug died Saturday, October 18, 2014.
NOTE: Tape Says: "9/198? it could have been 1,2,or 7 but the talk indicates it might be the later date.
(48 min) (11.1 MB) (id#1188)
