GET UP, YOU'RE NOT DEAD!

by George C. & Ingrid Frank Richardson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 27, 1975

Richardson is a black ex-assemblyman from Newark, now president of a public relations agency and a leader of the National Committee to Declare War on Drugs. His early years as reviewed here are so commonplace a tale of addiction that this account is hardly distinguishable from a dozen others now in book form. What is uplifting about it is the fact that he kicked heroin in his middle twenties; his life afterwards is only summarized. The book is his personal witness to addiction and is meant to be his platform for speaking out on behalf of the National Committee he helped form in 1972, after forsaking further political office. His story tells of rock-bottom ghetto life in Newark during the World War II years, joining the Army at fifteen to escape reform school, service in the Far East and the jobs he got after discharge. He developed a heavy taste for the sauce, fell in with bad companions, and decided to save himself by finding a permanent home in the Air Force. When his unit was ordered to Guam, George ""missed"" the boat (twice), later was shipped to Japan. It was there that he became slowly hooked, all the while telling himself that he wouldn't--he was too smart. But drugs got him an undesirable discharge and he did cold turkey on the boat home to the States. After a term on wine's row in Los Angeles, he rebuffed a lucrative offer to run dope and came home to Newark to begin a new life. Straightforward, no surprises.

Pub Date: May 27, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Norton

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION