Ballad of a Sober Man, Memoir By Dr. J. D. Remy

I was very happy to have been Dr. J. D. Remy’s editor on Ballad of a Sober Man: An ER Doctor’s Journey of Recovery. The doc lost everything, but found recovery by letting go of his own ego.

To truly show how far you have come in recovery, it is necessary to describe yourself at your lowest. One day, Dr. Remy was, in all outward appearances, a family man and successful Emergency Room physician. In one day, he lost it all—his family, his job … everything. He was wheeled, as a patient, into the emergency room where he was once in charge.

To get his life back, Dr. Remy had to not only recover from alcohol addiction, but also from his own ego, narcissism, and sense of entitlement. In this book, we experience, through his own eyes, what it is like to lose it all and then, slowly, climb your way back.

(Howard Lovy) pushed me to dig deep to rework passages and improve my prose. He responded to my emails quickly, and was even available after the work was completed for some mop-up issues. I applaud Mr. Lovy for his hard work on my behalf and highly recommend him as a developmental editor.” — Dr. J. D. Remy

I recommend this book for anybody who has faced life-changing challenges, or those who want to know, firsthand, how one person can fight back from devastating addiction and loss. Also, find out how he ended up on the front lines of the COVID-19 fight.

Many authors who have gone through traumatic experiences have trusted me with their memoirs. It may be because I’ve gone through my share of trauma, too, and I approach this work without judgment and with lots of empathy. So, I seem to specialize in memoirs about people who have hit rock bottom through addiction, bad luck, or bad health, and have an important message for others. I’m proud to help my clients find their voice through all this turbulence.

Dr. Remy was also kind enough to write a testimonial about the work we did together on his manuscript:

“Howard served as the developmental editor for my memoir Ballad of a Sober Man: An ER Doctor’s Journey of Recovery. He began work on it in February of 2020 and had completed the edit by the end of March—no easy feat for a 105,000-word book. We remained in close contact the entire time, and I found him to be thorough and responsive. He met my imposed deadline of March 31st. He pushed me to dig deep to rework passages and improve my prose. He responded to my emails quickly, and was even available after the work was completed for some mop-up issues. I applaud Mr. Lovy for his hard work on my behalf and highly recommend him as a developmental editor.”

Dr. Remy is also a member of the Alliance of Independent Authors, where I host author-interview podcasts. I talked to Dr. Remy to get his story. Click on the arrow below to listen.