I'm not a lawyer. I'm a writer of books and articles. I've told you this much about our lawsuit to let you know from whence I come. As I learned all too well in my research, "golden apples of discord" bruise too many families at all levels of society, over estates large and small, and for reasons that range from right to  

wrong to justified to plain off the wall craziness.

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     Lest anyone wonder how I could write any of this if I am not a lawyer, let me say this: I wasn't a drug counselor when I wrote the Putnam-published "If your child is drinking...." which was blessed with very good trade reviews. (I kept re-reading the reviews because I couldn't believe they were about my book): 

Library Journal said it was "well-researched...a comprehensive and constructive sourcebook". 

Kirkus Reviews called it "authoritative.... an excellent guide - straight forward and unflustered".

Publisher's Weekly found it comprehensive and "presented with practicality".  

     I'm a non-drinker because I loathe the taste of liquor but I wrote the book after I kept reading more and more newspaper reports about teenage accidents and deaths due to alcohol.

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      Let me end today with this thought:

     The tragedy of our story is not that it could have been avoided. 

     The universal sadness is that it is all too common.

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