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SEPTEMBER 9, 2018 @ 5:30 PM PDT
CHRIS LAWFORD
with host TIM CARPENTER
(interview from 2009)
Best-selling author, actor and addiction recovery advocate CHRISTOPHER KENNEDY LAWFORD died on Tuesday in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was 63.
Chris Lawford’s parents were Peter Lawford and Patricia Kennedy Lawford, who was the sister of President John F. Kennedy, Sen. Robert F. Kennedy (D-N.Y.) and Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.). Both of his parents struggled with addiction, before and after their divorce in 1966, and Lawford said he began using drugs in his early teens.
In spite of his heavy drug use, he graduated in 1977 from Tufts University in Massachusetts and in 1983 received a law degree from Boston College. In the 1980s, he embarked on an acting career, appearing in small roles in dozens of films and TV shows, including General Hospital and All My Children.
Chris credits his aunt Joan Kennedy — Ted Kennedy’s first wife — with introducing him to an addiction treatment program in 1986, which allowed him to turn his life around. He earned a masters certification in clinical psychology from Harvard Medical School, where he held an academic appointment as a lecturer in psychiatry. He wrote several books that described his efforts to recover from drug addiction, including “Symptoms of Withdrawal,” “Moments of Clarity” and “Recover to Live.” He campaigned tirelessly on behalf of the recovery community in both the public and private sectors, working with the United Nations, the Canadian Center on Substance Abuse, the White House Office on Drug Control Policy, and the World Health Organization. At the time of his death, Chris had been in recovery from drug addiction for over 30 years.
Experience Talks host Tim Carpenter, CEO/Founder of EngAGE, Inc., commented: “Chris Lawford was such a genuine, kind guy. He did some events for and with EngAGE, came to our communities, read from his books, gave away copies, signed them for people, took pictures with our elders. I got to interview him for Experience Talks and hang out with him. I feel lucky to have crossed his path and he will be greatly missed.”
Learn more at christopherkennedylawford.com.
