Brendan Leonard
Born and raised in Iowa, Leonard struggles with alcohol at a young age. He attended graduate school at Missoula, Montana. After a long journey of rehab, sobriety, divorce, and death, Brendan finds an unlikely activity to cope with the hard times: climbing. Climbing many well known spots in Colorado, Arizona and other states led to peace and serenity with the presence of rocks.
Born and raised in Iowa, Leonard struggles with alcohol at a young age. He attended graduate school at Missoula, Montana. After a long journey of rehab, sobriety, divorce, and death, Brendan finds an unlikely activity to cope with the hard times: climbing. Climbing many well known spots in Colorado, Arizona and other states led to peace and serenity with the presence of rocks.
Author's Purpose
In Leonard’s story, the true story of alcoholism and recovery leads the character to a better lifestyle and discovering himself. The main character, and writer Brendan Leonard, uses climbing and hiking as a remedy and way of finding composure and unlikely companions.With the use of transcendentalism beliefs such as immersion into nature, living simply, and taking a new path; daily struggles of depression, anxiety and want for alcohol and dealt with. Brendan Leonard's purpose behind telling his story in Sixty Meters to Anywhere is to connect with the reader and move past his hard times.
Data in 2015 shows that about 800 people everyday are injured by drunk driving. Leonard writes about how he drove drunk multiple times, and how the guilt of adding to that number led him farther into sobriety. 1 in every 12 adults struggle with alcohol, so many can relate to the feelings and challenges faced in Brendan's writing. Along the journey in Sixty Meters to Anywhere, the issue of sobriety with friends who drink, failing family members expectations, moving past a beaten path past, and many other common confrontations are endured throughout Leonard’s story.
In Brendan Leonard’s family, his brother is a gold star child, his grandfather faced alcoholism,and his mother’s disappointment in him leads to his low self-esteem and his result to drinking hours upon hours at his favorite bar. While reading Sixty Meters to Anywhere, it is clearly shown that there are multiple ways to confront problems and situations. Leonard uses climbing and sobriety as a way of move past his challenging moments. It is said that by setting aside worries, writing, and confronting can lead to solutions. Brendan demonstrated all three of these; he now writes essays and inspirational blogs on Semi-Rad, he sets aside worry when climbing to focus on nature and the thrill.
Works Cited
“Deal Better with Hard Times.” Mental Health America, 4 Feb. 2014, www.mentalhealthamerica.net/deal-better-hard-times.
Fields, Jenn. “In ‘Sixty Meters to Anywhere,’ Denver Author Brendan Leonard Takes a Journey through Addiction, Recovery, Rock Climbing.” The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 16 July 2016, www.denverpost.com/2016/07/15/brendan-leonard-sixty-meters-to-anywhere/.
“An Interview with Brendan Leonard, Climber and Author.” Alastair Humphreys, 17 Mar. 2016, www.alastairhumphreys.com/brendan-leonard/.
Leonard, Brendan. “Brendan Leonard.” REI Co-Op Journal, REI, 3 Oct. 2016, www.rei.com/blog/bio/brendan-leonard.
Leonard, Brendan. Twitter.com, twitter.com/semi_rad.
“Statistics.” MADD, www.madd.org/statistics/.
Data in 2015 shows that about 800 people everyday are injured by drunk driving. Leonard writes about how he drove drunk multiple times, and how the guilt of adding to that number led him farther into sobriety. 1 in every 12 adults struggle with alcohol, so many can relate to the feelings and challenges faced in Brendan's writing. Along the journey in Sixty Meters to Anywhere, the issue of sobriety with friends who drink, failing family members expectations, moving past a beaten path past, and many other common confrontations are endured throughout Leonard’s story.
In Brendan Leonard’s family, his brother is a gold star child, his grandfather faced alcoholism,and his mother’s disappointment in him leads to his low self-esteem and his result to drinking hours upon hours at his favorite bar. While reading Sixty Meters to Anywhere, it is clearly shown that there are multiple ways to confront problems and situations. Leonard uses climbing and sobriety as a way of move past his challenging moments. It is said that by setting aside worries, writing, and confronting can lead to solutions. Brendan demonstrated all three of these; he now writes essays and inspirational blogs on Semi-Rad, he sets aside worry when climbing to focus on nature and the thrill.
Works Cited
“Deal Better with Hard Times.” Mental Health America, 4 Feb. 2014, www.mentalhealthamerica.net/deal-better-hard-times.
Fields, Jenn. “In ‘Sixty Meters to Anywhere,’ Denver Author Brendan Leonard Takes a Journey through Addiction, Recovery, Rock Climbing.” The Denver Post, The Denver Post, 16 July 2016, www.denverpost.com/2016/07/15/brendan-leonard-sixty-meters-to-anywhere/.
“An Interview with Brendan Leonard, Climber and Author.” Alastair Humphreys, 17 Mar. 2016, www.alastairhumphreys.com/brendan-leonard/.
Leonard, Brendan. “Brendan Leonard.” REI Co-Op Journal, REI, 3 Oct. 2016, www.rei.com/blog/bio/brendan-leonard.
Leonard, Brendan. Twitter.com, twitter.com/semi_rad.
“Statistics.” MADD, www.madd.org/statistics/.