A BOY WALKS INTO A BAR

About the Book

In one year’s time, two events in the author’s life herald a future of turmoil and tragedy, the aftermath of which he continues to deal with today. At the age of twelve, he had his first drink—a can of beer—in a church parking lot. That summer, he took a job in a bar around the corner from the house he grew up in. He was thirteen. And so began his love affair with alcohol and with bartending. The book traces his descent into alcoholic oblivion as he moved from one bartending job to another. Ironically, he knew he was an alcoholic but failed to understand the meaning of the concept “It’s the first drink that gets you drunk.” As a consequence, it took him twenty-seven years to face the reality of his disease, but then after almost twenty years of sobriety, he once again

About the Author

Robert Kelly was born in 1943 in Rockville Center, New York. Following his graduation from college in 1964, he began a 34-year career in public education, teaching history at the high school level. During 21 of those years he also worked as a bartender in various establishments in Nassau and Suff olk Counties. He is retired and currently lives with his second wife in a condominium community on Long Island. Besides writing (he is working on a second book) he currently divides his time between editing a monthly community newsletter and weight training in the gym he has been a member of since 1978.