Thomas McDonald

After a career as a child actor (as "Buddy" in several Our Gang films, among other appearances), McDonald joined the military, then the Los Angeles Police Dept. But a drinking problem got in his way, and he ended up in prison for robbery. There, he joined Alcoholics Anonymous and realized how much damage his drinking had caused him -- "my father was confronted with the fact that his life was going down the drain," his son said. He then dedicated his life to helping others with drinking problems, both as an AA sponsor and then taking the message to schoolchildren. In the 1960s, McDonald and Downey, Calif., Municipal Court Judge Leon Emerson developed the "court card" system for offenders to show judges to prove that they attended alcohol treatment; the system has been adopted nationally. In the 1970s, McDonald and Emerson co-founded the Southern California Alcohol and Drug Programs, which help 3,000 people a year fight their addictions. McDonald "never forgot he'd been down and out and once needed a hand," said Lynne Appel, the program's current executive director. Thomas "Bud" McDonald died September 22 from congestive heart failure. He was 85. From This is True for 21 September 2008 Suggestions for further reading: Arm Action, Arm Path, and the Perfect Pitch: Building a Million-Dollar Arm by Tom House, Doug Thorburn Amazon Price: $29.95 Customer Review: This book really made me re-think what I thought I knew about pitching. I have heard all sorts of theories on pitching mechanics, and most of them seemed based on opinion. House and Thorburn do an exceptional job of breaking down these theories, an...   How to Spot Hidden Alcoholics: Using Behavioral Clues to Recognize Addiction ... by Doug Thorburn Amazon Price: $12.78 Customer Review: Doug Thorburn provides vital information for all of us, in this eye-opening, fascinating book. It is the book I wish I'd had years ago when I was dealing with alcoholism, and didn't even know it. It might have saved me years of anguish, ...   Get Out of the Way!: How to Identify and Avoid a Driver Under the Influence by Doug Thorburn Amazon Price: $12.95 Customer Review: As a certified DUI counselor, I found this book to be an excellent safety manual that all driver's should read (especially beginning ones!). There should be a link to this book in all state DMV Driver Handbook's!). I wish it had included however, a d...   Drunks, Drugs & Debits: How to Recognize Addicts and Avoid Financial Abuse by Doug Thorburn Amazon Price: $19.95 Customer Review: I would recommend "Drunks, Drugs, and Debits" for almost anyone, since there are so many addicts around, and each of us knows some of them. It is a fascinating, but also very useful, description of the behavior of substance addicts, as well as how to...   Alcoholism Myths and Realities: Removing the Stigma of Society's Most Destruc... by Doug Thorburn Amazon Price: $11.66 Customer Review: Doug Thorburn has made it his life's work to study and learn about alcoholism, our society's most destructive disease. This book address the myths that still exist, (p.7) such as: Myth#1, "brain damage occurs only in obviou...   Newsfeed display by CaRP

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