Blog

Thursday, April 25 7PM Author Talk with Jack Kelly III & Paul Hammersley

Sharp Needle is an autobiographical account of Jack Kelly’s tragic spiral into heroin addiction, recovery and running for office, in the cutthroat world of Boston Politics. After sustaining a significant shoulder injury Jack was prescribed opiate pain meds and became addicted. Quickly, Jack descended into the sordid life of heroin that ultimately lead to homelessness and the loss of his family. But at the age of 22, Jack found recovery and battled his way back.

Jack has advised and served on various boards for public health policy and substance use disorder. He founded a mobile app tech startup, connecting people in recovery to one another from their phones. Jack remains a vocal leader on issues surrounding addiction and recovery.

Paul Hammersley, Malden’s Addiction Recovery Resource Specialist, serves to help residents navigate the treatment system, promote recovery, help to remove barriers, connect people with recovery support services and also encourage hope, optimism and promote healthy living.
Paul is a recovery and empowerment specialist and is also a Certified Addiction Recovery Coach who guides people through the process while supporting recovery based choices, goals, and decisions.

Books will be available for purchase.
This event is free and open to the public.
Call the library at 781-324-0218 with any questions.