BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – Brevard County attorney Alton Edmond said he wrote “Don’t Be Sad” for “anyone who is dealing with sadness like I did, for anyone who is battling depression like I did, for anyone that needs a little bit of hope and inspiration that their circumstances can somehow change for the better.”
He said the book draws on his own experiences as a young boy growing up in Florida.
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He said he enjoyed being exposed to culture and family throughout his childhood, but he also experienced things that were “a bit tragic” growing up in what he calls a “low income, high crime area” of Hendry County.
Edmond said he also dealt with bullying from people in the community and sometimes his own family members.
When people open his book Edmond said, “I think parents and kids can expect an opportunity to step into the life of a young person that is struggling and to see through their eyes, what they are feeling, what their emotions are like and also see the things that helped that young person to climb out of that hole. For example, for me, you know, it took surrounding myself with positive influences and involving myself in constructive activities, to really turn my focus to positive things and to begin to develop some sense of self important self awareness and self esteem.”
He said part of that process included joining the wrestling team.
“I never forget when I was a ninth grader at Clewiston High School, I met this PE coach, this gym coach named Michael Irving. And he’s a character in my book that was very impactful on my life, because he was the one that recruited me to join the wrestling team. Now, I’m a wrestling coach today at Cocoa High School, where I live. And it’s because of him.”
Edmond said Irving’s name and likeness appears in the book.
Edmond said he is already getting a lot of positive feedback, especially from people in his hometown, “because this book actually shows real places that I went, and had some experiences; my middle school, my high school, the projects that I grew up in.”
At first he said, “it was a little uncomfortable, being that vulnerable, because I think that, as you said, it is not something that is commonly spoken about in the Black and brown community.”
But, Edmond said he hopes his book will help more people talk about mental health.
“Don’t Be Sad” is available on Amazon and at EdmondInspiration.com.
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