Beth Macy
Beth Macy, the award-winning author of “Dopesick,” has a sequel that has just been published, “Raising Lazarus: Hope, Justice and the Future of America’s Overdose Crisis.” Macy speaks at the Washington County Public Library in Abingdon, Virginia, Sunday, Oct. 16 at 3 p.m. in the library’s community room.
If “Dopesick” captured the beginnings of the opioid epidemic, especially the scourge of OxyContin in Southwest Virginia, this new book now explores how everyday heroes are struggling to help victims of the crisis.
Distilling this unprecedented national health crisis down to its character-driven emotional core as only she can, Macy takes us into the country’s hardest hit places to witness the devastating personal costs that so many American families are now being forced to shoulder.
In the book we meet the ordinary people fighting for “the least of us”— with the fewest resources. Macy highlights heroes from all sorts of backgrounds, from harm reductionists risking arrest to bring lifesaving care to the homeless and addicted — to the activists and bereaved families pushing to hold Purdue, the Sackler family and other pharmaceutical companies accountable.
Since addiction levels have spiked during the COVID pandemic, there is a critical need for leadership, urgency and change. Macy explores the reasons why there is little consensus between law enforcement and medical leaders as to what can help this crisis.
The event, which is free of charge, is part of the “Sunday with Friends” series, sponsored by the Friends of the Washington County Public Library. There will be book sales and signings after the event.
