My Last Drink

The notion of Last Drinks has entered deeply into the Australian lexicon, but there is another kind of Last Drink, the last one that an alcoholic takes before she or he gets sober. My Last Drink is a collection of inspiring and hitherto unpublished stories, original for this book, that canvass and explain how thirty-two recovering alcoholics managed to stop drinking and to stay stopped.

"The only person who I knew who didn't drink was my mother. She had a bottle of gin that lasted seven years."

- Mike

"Will you be staying in Sydney for your holidays, darling?" 'Yeah, I'm thinking I will be at Silverwater prison.'"

- Di Young - who got sober when she was eighteen.

"My wife answered and I called out 'Tell him I'm sick', and my boss said, 'Tell him he will be sick if he's not in here by 8 o'clock!' Getting off the grog saved my job."

- Davo

Ross Fitzgerald AM is Emeritus Professor of History & Politics at Griffith University and the author or co-author of 43 books. His most recent books are a memoir Fifty Years Sober: An Alcoholic's Journey and the co-authored political satires, The Dizzying Heights and The Lowest Depths, published by Hybrid in Melbourne. Professor Fitzgerald now lives in Redfern, Sydney.

Neal Price is an artist and writer who now lives in Hobart, Tasmania. He has long been engaged in the Community Cultural Development sector, with a focus on disability, mental health, ageing and oral histories.