Two of my favorite advocates, Libba Phillips and Joanne Peterson, will be guests on Sheila Gale's "12 Step Talk Uncensored" radio show on KXRA AM 540 in Monterey, CA, this Saturday, Jan. 6. The show runs from 4-5 PM Pacific time. You can listen live on the Internet by clicking here.

Libba, the founder of Outpost for Hope, has just launched a revamped website with the new tagline, "Navigating the Lost Highway for Missing Kids off the Grid." Her mission is to bridge the gap between families, law enforcement, social services and missing loved ones, whether they are runaways, children missing from foster care, or teens and adults with substance addiction and/or mental illness who may be lost among the homeless or whose whereabouts are unknown.

Also check out Libba's new video on YouTube.

Joanne is the founder of the Learn to Cope parents group south of Boston who has done so much to bring attention to the new wave of opiate addiction among suburban youth. I ran a copy of Joanne's op-ed piece about the heroin epidemic in her area in my last blog entry.

A few other folks I respect have also been on Sheila's show in recent weeks.

Percy Menzies, a pharmacist and president of Assisted Recovery Centers of America in St. Louis, spoke about pharmacotherapy on last week's show. You'll be hearing more about — and from — Percy in the months to come.

I recommend you check out a cover story that ran on KSDK TV news last week about a woman who had her first alcohol-free New Year's Eve in 30 years. Both of her parents were alcoholics who died young. She credits her recovery to Vivitrol, a form of naltrexone that is administered by monthly injection at Percy's clinic. Percy has told me that he's also seeing success with motivated opiate addicts who combine Vivatrol with counseling, though that usage is off label.

Kristina Wandzilak, who wrote a gripping book about her addiction and recovery with her mother, Constance Curry, was a guest on "12 Step Talk Uncensored" the week before that. I had hoped to excerpt their book, The Lost Years, on Elephant on Main, but the publisher evidently felt that my selections gave away too much of the story. It's well worth the $11.32 discounted price at Amazon.

Kristina, who has conducted interventions for the past dozen years, has a fascinating, if occasional (I should talk) blog on MySpace.

Speaking of occasional blogs, among my New Year's resolutions is to begin writing this Elephant blog regularly again. In fact, in the coming months, we will be expanding Elephant into an umbrella site for blogs from a number of distinct and passionate voices — some of whom are mentioned above.

Another is Bill Borchert, who is wrapping up a revision of a screenplay of his book, The Lois Wilson Story, for a Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation. Bill was on Sheila's show on Dec. 9.

My devotion to advocacy for addicts and their families has not waned one iota, but I've been preoccupied with other issues. I see some blue sky ahead. Thanks for sticking with us through some demanding months. I know they've been trying ones for some of you. But there's hope, as Libba would say, in numbers.

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