Bronxite pens bio about defeating 28-year heroin addiction
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The devastating tale of a
young man’s journey through
drug addiction and its associated
criminal activity, is related
in detail by the survivor.
Kevin John Carroll, who
grew up in the Castle Hill
Houses, spending 28 years
addicted to heroin, penned
a 400-page autobiography
chronicling his despair and
misdeeds.
Today, living on Logan Avenue
in Throggs Neck, he is
grateful that his wife, who he
married at 17, stuck with him
through the worst of times.
Titled ‘I Still Can’t Fly,’ Carroll
uses authentic humor to
tell a moving story about what
he calls “seeing the light.”
“I was always getting into
trouble since I was little kid.
Usually those confrontations
would end with me sprinting
off,” Carroll said. “That’s
where the book’s title comes
from, I still can’t fl y but I can
sure run like hell,” the author
added.
Carroll began writing the
book after spending a month
in rehab during the early
1990s, fi nally releasing it in
October 2018.
$3OFF
SAUTE´ AND
PASTA DISHES
COME AND ENJOY OUR
NEW SAUTE MENU!
SERVED
MONDAY - SATURDAY
FROM 4PM-9PM
“At fi rst I didn’t want to
open up at all,” he said.
It was only after a moving
counseling session that Carroll
began coming to terms
with his torrid past. He realized
writing about it would be
the best therapy to recovery.
“You aren’t allowed to
have a pencil or a phone during
the fi rst 30 days of rehab.
I waited 30 days to get a pencil
and spent the following years
to write my story down,” Carroll
said, mentioning that he
doesn’t think he’s funny per se
but he in fact “thinks funny,”
leading to his book’s success.
Even though he left school
during eighth grade he attributes
his writing skills to his
avid interest in reading.
It was Carroll’s comical
personality that encouraged
Hardball Press of Brooklyn to
publish its fi rst memoir ever.
That memoir begins with
Carroll in a parochial grammar
school, constantly having
his ear yanked on by nuns, to
later working with the NYC
Department of Sanitation,
taking more sick days than
imaginable in addition to constantly
fast talking his way
out of being terminated.
In between those two
points is the scary reality his
addiction brought into Carroll’s
life.
While employed by Sanitation
his drug addiction
somehow avoided detection.
The book vividly describes
circumstance after circumstance
where he came within
a whisker of ending his career.
Today, remarkedly, he collects
a full city pension.
He literally said one day,
after almost three decades of
battling heroin, “that’s it.”
“I know the way that I
broke my addiction is uncommon,
but that’s honestly how it
happened,” Carroll said.
Originally, Carroll wrote
the book just for himself. It
represents the fi rst thing that
he has ever completed in his
life.
While obviously the success
and great feedback he
has received is pleasing, that
wasn’t the motive behind writing
the tale
“What I realized after I
wrote this book is that it’s not
just for me, it’s for you, and it’s
for someone that you know
who’s going through this,”
Carroll said.
YOUR NEXT DELIVERY OF
$20 OR MORE
Must Mention Coupon Offer While Ordering To Receive Discount And Present Upon
Food Receipt. Not To Be Combined With Any Other Offer. Exp. 02/28/2019
EARLY BIRD
DINNER
SPECIALS
$10.95
SUNDAY - THURSDAY
3pm - 6pm
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, J 18 ANUARY 25-31, 2019 BTR
The book’s cover. Courtesy of Kevin Carroll
SPIRIT
FILLED
PRAYER
GUIDED
LOVE
EXTENDED
VAN NEST
ASSEMBLY
OF GOD
755 Rhinelander Ave.
Bronx, NY 10462
Corner of Holland
2 blocks from
White Plains Road
A HOUSE OF PRAYER FOR ALL NATIONS
Welcome to our caring,
multi cultural, multi-generational,
evangelistic home church!
5 services every Sunday.
8:30 am, 10 am (Service & Sunday School)
11:30 am, 4pm, 7pm.
Ministry programs and activities for
all ages — all week — all year!
Come join us in prayer, praise
and celebration!
www.vannestassembly.org
PASTOR
ASSISTANT PASTOR
YOUTH PASTOR
GEORGE’S RESTAURANT
Corner of Westchester Avenue & Crosby Avenue
SERVING THE FINEST FOOD FOR OVER 48 YEARS
NOW SERVING WHOLE WHEAT PASTA
WE DELIVER TO
PELHAM BAY
THROGS NECK
COUNTRY CLUB
$10 Minimum
For Delivery
Delivery Hours
11am-9pm
LET US CATER YOUR NEXT EVENT - CURBSIDE PICK-UP!
“There is a way out and
don’t let anyone tell you that
there isn’t,” he said.
In his now 23 years of sobriety,
Carroll says he hasn’t
faced a single challenge.
“Not a day goes by that I
haven’t woken up without a
smile,” the born-again Carroll
gladly mentioned.
/www.vannestassembly.org
/www.vannestassembly.org