Mary Beth O’Connor is a retired federal administrative law judge who survived a childhood rife with physical, sexual and emotional abuse followed by 20 years of hard core alcohol and drug addiction. Faced with never-ending feelings of abandonment, danger and marginalization, she persevered through high school and college, made it into law school, dropped out, then rejoined finally tackling her addiction in her 30’s to become a judge. She writes about it in stark terms in her memoir From Junkie to Judge: One Woman’s Triumph Over Trauma and Addiction. Now 30 years sober and living a stable life in the San Francisco Bay area, Mary Beth tells her story with candor and self-deprecation that will hook you and reel you in. She is also an advocate or hope and recovery and offers several resources.
Tom is a Philadelphia native whose 40-year journalism expertise includes radio, television, print and online. He holds a bachelor’s degree in communications from Temple University. He was a New Jersey certified EMT from 1999 to 2021 and served as a volunteer EMT on his local rescue squad in New Jersey answering more than 3,000 calls. He is still a certified CPR instructor and a life member of the squad.
He worked in Philadelphia radio and television from the mid 1970s until 1991. From 1992 to 2007 he was a producer and senior producer at CBS News. After retiring from the TV news business in 2007, he spent 12 years as director of communications for Chelsea Senior Living and two years as public information officer for the borough of Fanwood, New Jersey.
Tom has written seven books. He resides in New Jersey where he hosts a podcast on creativity and does freelance communications work.
