Ed Latimore

We've all got a choice. We can get better at fighting or worse at life. Every day, we absorb body blows: some glancing, others that knock us to the mat. It doesn't matter how well-prepared or tough you think you are. Everyone, at some point, is hit with a haymaker from life. It's the cost of living. And just like in the ring, opting out of pain is not an option. In Hard Lessons From The Hurt Business, former heavyweight boxer Ed Latimore takes readers on a journey from his hardscrabble childhood in Pittsburgh's public housing projects to his signing with Jay-Z's Roc Nation Sport. With honesty and humor, Ed shares how the discipline of boxing served as his rite of passage into manhood and gave him the tools he needed to overcome his childhood trauma and the demons of alcoholism. Ed's story is one of learning the hard lessons of maturity in perhaps the harshest way possible--from the hurt business. It's a story about finding self-mastery in the face of uncertainty, discovering the power of forgiveness, and embracing pain and adversity to design a life of purpose. Like Ed says, "How we absorb life's blows and rally through bruised and bloodied rounds shows who we are at our core. We sacrifice, weep, heal, and carry on. In hardship, we transcend."

All sober people are alike but every alcoholic is disturbed in his own way. The alcoholic rarely understands why they are unable to enjoy an alcoholic beverage like everyone else. The only option for most is a trip to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. For some, it works. For others, it's the start of a vicious cycle.By calling it a disease or blaming an "addictive personality," society takes the easy way out. I refused to take the easy way out. I looked back on my compulsive drinking with a sober eye and a heavy heart. I analyzed my behaviors and considered my motivations for making a binge and blackout drinking the standard for consumption.It's only in sobriety that you can understand how destructive you have been to yourself and those closest to you. These are the letters that I wish I had in my darkest hour, when I knew that I needed to quit but couldn't.These letters will lift you up from the ocean of despair and guilt that you're drowning in.These letters will make you understand why you drink until you can't remember what you were trying to forget.These letters might save your life or the life of someone you love...