Sábado 21 de Mayo, (Saturday May 21) at 7:30 pm.
Book launch “Mi Vida en la Calle / My life on the street” by Chilean author Gary Rolf. Esta usted cordialmente invitado a la presentación del libro “MI VIDA EN LA CALLE” Escritor: 
Gary Rolf. The evening, hosted by members of the author’s family who reside in the Hamilton area, includes a video, a skype interview with the author in Chile, and some music from local Latin American musicians.
This autobiographical work takes a journey back and forth in the acceptance and management of a dual diagnosis: bipolar disorder linked to chronic alcoholism. Today in his full recovery phase, the author wants to share his experience to motivate and inspire others who are still under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. …mas…
La obra de naturaleza biográfica, narra un viaje de ida y vuelta en la aceptación y manejo de una patología dual: un trastornó bipolar unido a un alcoholismo crónico. Hoy en completa fase de recuperación, el autor quiere compartir su experiencia a fin de motivar e inspirar a otras personas que todavía se encuentran bajo la influencia del alcohol y otras drogas.
Biography of Edgardo Rolf Esparza Reyes (Penname: Gary Rolf)
Edgardo Rolf Esparza Reyes was born March 16, 1969 in Castro Chiloe, Chile. He immigrated to Canada as a political refugee with his family. He studied at Forest Heights, in Kitchener Waterloo. He attempted to study film in Montreal and participated on a documentary “Existence of a man, living on the street”. Later on he managed to create and sell poetry on the streets to survive on a day to day basis.
He returned to Chile in 2007, where he began his long road to recovery and wrote his first book “Mi Vida en la Calle” “My life on the street”. Today, he lives in Santiago de Chile, writing daily, attending night classes and working very hard to maintain his recovery and to keep his mental illness under control. He is also involved in the prevention campaigns against drugs and alcohol consumption as an inspirational speaker in conjunction with CONACE (National Council against Alcohol and Drugs).
“It is so easy to succumb into the path of self-destruction with alcohol and drugs. The hardest part is to come out from it alive.”
In this, his first book, written as an autobiography, the author narrates the harsh reality of his endless wandering in the streets of Toronto and Montreal, and eventually ending in the even tougher streets of a third world country, Valparaiso, Chile. A race to self-destruction.
It has taken him almost 20 years of his life to finally come to terms and embark on a path of healing and recovery, hand in hand with the support of the few who never let him go. He has 2 years of sobriety, accepting his bipolar disorder and continuing to maintain his equilibrium.
It is his hope that by opening his soul in this pages, with honesty and frankness, his story could inspire and touch others to give themselves the chance to regain their right to live.
