Author David Fitzpatrick will read from his memoir, Sharp, and deliver a speech entitled: Hope, Faith, & the Power of the Broken

David Fitzpatrick, author of Sharp: A Memoir, tells the story of his descent from promising beginnings to almost two decades of struggles with mental illness, self-mutilation by cutting, and substance abuse. His shocking and poignant memoir is ultimately a tale of hope, and achieving recovery through treatment and support.

Mr. Fitzpatrick will be introduced by his wife, Amy Holmes, who will speak of stigma and living with someone who struggles.

Of Sharp, author Wally Lamb writes: “David Fitzpatrick is our tour guide for a harrowing journey from self-destructive psychosis to a cautious re-emergence into the flickering sunshine of the sane world. Fitzpatrick writes
about mental illness with the unsparing intensity of Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton but also with the hard-won self-knowledge of William Styron, Kay Jamison, and other chroniclers of disease, recovery, and management. While
reading Sharp, I was at turns frightened, appalled, enlightened, and overcome with sadness. … And, by book’s
end, reassured about the triumph of the human spirit and the healing power of a family’s patient and abiding love.”

Hosted by the Stamford/Greenwich affiliate
of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the event is open to the public and free of charge.

NAMI is a national, grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with mental
illness and their families.