Full Blue Moon Dementia

My memoir: Gun Needle Spoon begins with the last years of my heroin addiction, my consequent descent into crime, primarily armed bank robbery, and my eventual incarceration. My final arrest was June 25, 1997, and I look back at the person that I was then and wonder who that person was. He certainly is not who I am...

Gun, Needle, Spoon follows a punk rock pioneer on his slide into drug abuse and life as an armed robber, all the way through life in recovery and what it’s like to look back on those times. Hawthorne/Dzanc intern Alexis Woodcock talks with the author, Patrick O’Neil, about the book, his life, and rehabilitation.  ...

Today I have 18 years free from drugs and alcohol. I can safely say no one ever saw that coming. What with the way I was living and the destruction of everything I touched it was becoming more and more apparent I wasn’t headed down the primrose path to a long wonderful life. January 8th...

THE BOOK: Gun, Needle, Spoon PUBLISHED IN: 2015 THE AUTHOR: Patrick O’Neil THE EDITOR: Guy Intoci THE PUBLISHER: Dzanc Books SUMMARY: Before his life went totally off the rails, Patrick O’Neil was living the punk rock dream, working at San Francisco’s legendary Mabuhay Gardens, going on to become a roadie and then the road manager...

By Bianca L. Rodriguez I had the pleasure of interviewing Patrick O’Neil, Group Facilitator and Narrative Therapist at CAST Centers in West Hollywood, California. For the past 17 years he has lived and worked in the recovery community as a recovering addict/alcoholic, a drug and alcohol counselor, and a college instructor. He is the author...

The first time I saw Patrick, he was giving his graduate lecture at the grad school we both attended. For the lecture, he brought in his entire police record — complete with his mug shots and a very long list of violent and nonviolent crimes. I remember the list being very impressive. This was my...

Here I am as a guest for Talk Recovery Radio’s podcast: Gun Needle Spoon. “Join us on 100.5 fm for Talk Recovery. We speak to author Patrick O’Neil – Gun Needle Spoon.” Originally published on the Last Door website as August 11th 2016, Gun Needle Spoon, Talk Recovery Radio, August 11th (2016)

Steve Jones: Jello Biafra said in an interview, “…we hate hard drugs,” and yet, you were a road manager for the Dead Kennedys. How did you hide your heroin use from the band? Patrick O’Neil: I’d shoot on a daily basis, but not a huge amount, just enough to keep me well. I’d get loaded...

There is nothing easy about turning sixty. The days whip by in a whirlwind, kids look younger, and you can’t understand what they’re even talking about. Cops, bosses, and doctors could be your daughters and sons. Films and television shows are no longer relevant, nor can you identify with them. New music sounds like shit....