Great News!

On May 11, 2011, Living With The Enemy won the Midwest Book Award in the Self-Help category.  I am grateful for the recognition that this award will bring to my story in the hope that it can help others still suffering from their own addictions.

Now in their 21^st year, the Midwest Book Awards, issued by the Midwest Independent Book Publishers Association (MIPA), recognize books for excellence in 35 categories. A record 213 titles were submitted by publishers in the 12-state Midwest region this year.

I want to say a special thanks to my co-author, Carol Pine, and my publisher, Beaver's Pond Press, for helping to make my dream of a combination autobiography and recovery story a reality.

And Even Better News!

Building on the success of Living With The Enemy and my 12-Step path to recovery, later this year I will establish a Compulsive Overeating Retreat (COR) at The Retreat in Wayzata, Minnesota.

COR will be a five-day residential program to help those suffering from food addiction achieve spiritual fitness and a healthy relationship with food.  We will be using a team of "recovered" volunteers, along with COR Program Director Karen Edens, to guide participants through the retreat.

Our website (www.cormn.org) will be launched early this summer; it's not quite ready.  You will be able to learn much more about COR there.  In the meantime, if you are interested in COR, either as a participant or volunteer, please contact me using the Contact link at this website.

“Living With The Enemy” was just named as a Finalist for the Midwest Book Award in the Self-Help category.  I am grateful for this recognition and hope that it helps to get my story and the hope of recovery to those in need of a solution to their addictions.

The 21st Annual Midwest Book Awards are sponsored by the Midwest Independent Publishers Association.  Entries are accepted in many different categories from the 12 states in the Midwest.  The Midwest Book Award winners will be announced on May 11, 2011.

On December 17, 2010 book critic Mary Ann Grossmann for the St. Paul Pioneer Press published a review of "Living With The Enemy."  Here is what she had to say, along with a link to the article at TwinCities.com:

"Living With the Enemy: An Exploration of Addiction & Recovery" by Burt Nordstrand with Carol Pine (Beaver's Pond Press, $16.95): Recovery is also at the heart of this book, written by a driven businessman who used pills, booze, food, sex, caffeine, gambling and too much exercise to keep him going for years.

Nordstrand's name might be familiar to local readers because he was often in the media as one of the partners in the now-defunct St. Croix Meadows dog track in Hudson, Wis. He has been a real estate developer, earning kudos for bringing life back to Hudson's main street, and he owned a successful chain of gas-and-convenience stores.

Pressures of running businesses, plus Nordstrand's need to control everything, led to his multiple addictions. He finally won his battles, especially the one with overeating, with the help of Overeaters Anonymous, his patient wife and his hobby of sailing.

TwinCities.com: Minnesota Authors Offer Interesting and Thought-Provoking Memoirs

I recently read Michael Prager's new book "Fat Boy Thin Man".  I highly recommend it to anyone struggling with food addiction.

As a working journalist for 30 years and a food addict since childhood, Prager brings both uncommon skills and and all-to-common experiences to his recovery story.  He reached 365 pounds in his youth but has maintained 160  pounds for nearly 20 years after he discovered the power of the God of his understanding.

His story is an inspiration to those still suffering and offers yet another view of the path to recovery.  I thought his comments on finding God inside himself were particularly poignant:

"I have come to believe that God tucked a piece of himself into me when I was dispatched to earth, just as he did for each of us.  I think we are all God-like at birth . . . and that the goal is to stay that way while here."

"But, probably for everyone and probably by design, that's a challenge.  Life deals out it nicks and scrapes, and as the scar tissue thickens, it muffles the voice of God.  I imagine my spiritual practices as a lotion that, when applied in a thousand dabs, disolves those callouses and lets me get closer to God again."

We could all use more of that lotion--addicted or not.

You can find out more about "Fat Boy Thin Man", including where to purchase a copy, at www.fatboythinman.com.

On Monday afternoon, I was in my home town of Ellsworth for another book signing.  It brought back many memories.  The event was held at the SSG-Holiday Station, which I established in 1971 as the third  in the SSG Corporation chain that now totals 40 stores.  Our manager Amanda had the place looking great, as she always does.

Many old friends and neighbors came by.  And once again, I was gratified that a few perfect strangers stopped to say hello and buy a book.  I hope it will be of help to them.

Last night we had my first book signing in Hudson at Second Street Crossing.  It was great to visit with many old friends and colleagues.  We shared some stories together—some in the book, some not.  From former employees to bankers to clergy to high school classmates, it was fun to reminisce together.

I was most touched by the people attending who I had never met before.  They read about my recovery message in the local paper and decided to come by to meet me and buy a book.  If I can be of help to others facing addictions of their own, then the time and effort to write this book will all be worthwhile.

The next book signing is in Ellsworth, Wisconsin on Monday, August 16 from 4 to 6 PM at the Holiday Station.

We just received some great news about “Living With The Enemy.”  Hazelden’s online bookstore will be carrying the book starting this fall.  I am grateful for the opportunity to reach a wider audience with my book, particularly in the recovery community.

Since its 1949 founding in a Minnesota lakeside farmhouse, Hazelden has grown into one of the world's largest and most respected private not-for-profit alcohol and drug addiction treatment centers.  Through its publishing house, bookstores, catalogs and online bookstore, Hazelden has become the premier source for recovery literature in the world.

For more information about Hazelden, go to www.hazelden.org.  I will update you with a direct link as soon as my book has been added to its online bookstore.

I found as I share and talk about personal stories of my life; they reciprocate and find it a very healing process. With that in mind and wanting to leave a legacy for my children, I decided to take on this project. It has taken me over two years and what began as a legacy project; I believe has developed into a book that may attract a larger audience.

In doing research on other books, we have not found a personal autobiography on feelings especially eating disorders by a male. This one is a first.

I have found that society is changing. We are becoming more open. We are not living a lie. For years families have been keeping secrets -- looking good on the outside, but perhaps not so good on the inside. Secrets keep us sick and secrets keep us unhealthy. I wanted to change that.

I found that writing an autobiography is like climbing a mountain - however, writing a personal autobiography is like climbing the Himalayas.

I'm also working to develop an eating disorder clinic at The Retreat in Wayzata. It is a program I would partially fund through the Burt Nordstrand family foundation and perhaps I can use the launch of this book as a promotion for that project. It also developed into a project that I hope can be helpful to other people. With all of that in mind, I have taken the risk to tell a very personal story."