Micahel La Mura recently published a book about his struggle to overcome addiction.

Photo courtesy Michael La Mura

OKEECHOBEE — After struggling with addiction for many years, an Okeechobee man not only overcame it but also wrote a book about it.

Originally from   New Jersey, Michael La Mura has made Okeechobee his home for the past 20 years. Even before making this his full-time home, La Mura said he visited Okeechobee regularly throughout most of his life.  He had family members who lived here, and he visited them. “I’ve always liked it here,” he said.

Becoming an author was never one of La Mura’s goals. “I just wanted to help others who were struggling,” he said. “It’s been a long road back, trying to rebuild something. I didn’t write it to impress anybody. I did it to be honest with myself and with the people I hurt.”

La Mura said he believes many people live some version of his struggle. “Even though they don’t talk about it, I believe they are struggling too. Hopefully, my experience can help someone else.”

Beginning when he was young, La Mura experimented with various drugs. “I was living in Tampa and got into the nightlife and into drugs.”

When he was fully addicted, La Mura and his wife lost their 6-month-old son to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome). “At the time, I thought I was handling things OK, but when I look back, I was doing way worse than I thought. I was taking anything and everything I could get my hands on.”

“This disease destroys families, but you don’t see it when you are in the middle of it.”

It wasn’t until he lost a son, a daughter and a brother to addiction-related deaths that he knew he had to finally quit, and he did this by giving his struggle to God. “I just couldn’t run anymore.”

Raised in a Christian family, La Mura knew what he was doing was wrong. He knew he couldn’t solve his problems with drugs and knew eventually his secret would be made known. When it did, he decided he was not going to self-destruct but instead, gave the entire battle to God. “I tried all kinds of ways, but to me, the group settings like AA or NA didn’t help me. Sitting and listening to all that talk just made me want it more.” He packed up everything he had and left Okeechobee and headed to New Port Richey. He got away from everyone and everything he knew and did not return for nine months. “I was able to be honest with myself about my addiction.”

“After I came out of the other side of that long dark tunnel, I decided to do something positive and write a memoir.”

“Something no one ever talks about is how you are stuck with all these bad memories of the things that happened, the bad things you did when you were addicted. How do you live with these memories? How do you forgive yourself and others? My solution was to write.”

La Mura explains that he woke up one day and started writing, and he did not stop until the book was finished.

The book, Still Here: Addiction, Loss and Faith in my Fifties, can be found on Amazon and can be purchased as an e-book for $2.99 or as a paperback for $7.99. Still Here

Another unique feature of the book is La Mura’s use of cinematic reels, which can be found on YouTube. cinematic reels

Already, La Mura is at work on his second book, which he said delves into childhood trauma and how it shaped his life.

“I’m not fixed. I’m still broken, but I haven’t been on drugs or even alcohol in a long while,” said La Mura.