RESPECTED TV journalist Mike Munro will be guest speaker at a public meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) at Kogarah this Saturday.
Mr Munro grew up with an alcoholic mother whom he wrote about in his book, A Pasty Faced Nothing, and turned to AA for help.
The meeting is part of AA's annual national public information and community forum, which is being held in St George for the first time in its 30-year history.
The forum host committee chairman Kel Martin, 47, of Bexley, said Mr Munro's description of how he survived those early days and became a success "was an occasion not to be missed".
Associate Professor of addiction studies at Monash University, David Best, will be guest speaker at the forum.
Professor Best will speak about addiction research and referral practices.
The public meeting starts 10.30am at The Storehouse, Kogarah Uniting Church, 16-18 Gray Street, Kogarah.
One beer led to a downward spiral before AA saved Kel's life
A COUNTER meal always tasted better with a beer, Kel Martin, 47, of Bexley was told.
Then 20, he grew up surrounded by alcohol and previously had vowed never to drink but thought "what damage could one middy do?".
"That drink changed my life," said Mr Martin, the host committee chairman of the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) national public information and community forum.
"Suddenly, I felt the awkwardness I had been experiencing for years fall away," he said.
"I was ashamed of my home life and never invited school friends back to my place.
"I had [now] found the magic elixir that would allow me to be who I wanted to be and do whatever I wanted to do."
With new-found confidence, Mr Martin started his own business and became hugely successful but his drinking escalated.
"Eventually I realised I could not stop and became suicidal," he said.
"As a result of a suicide attempt, I was taken to a mental institution, where I was assessed as being addicted to alcohol, [was] detoxified and introduced to Alcoholics Anonymous http://www.aa.org.au/
"Eventually, I remarried and am now living a happy, sober life with my new wife and family, all thanks to getting sober in Alcoholics Anonymous."