Overview

Once a happily married businessman, avid golfer, and the proud owner of several luxury cars and three boats, conservative-minded Richard LeMieux saw his fortune change almost overnight. In this astonishingly heartfelt memoir, he describes his descent into homelessness and his struggle to survive personal and economic disaster. Evicted from his home in 2002 and living with his dog, Willow, in a beat-up old van, LeMieux finds himself penniless and estranged from his family and friends. He dines at the Salvation Army (aka Sally's), attempts suicide, and is treated at a mental hospital where he is diagnosed with depression. Writing on a secondhand manual typewriter, first at a picnic table in a public park, and then wherever he can, LeMieux describes his odyssey and the quirky, diverse, and endearing cast of characters found among the homeless people of Bremerton, Washington, and, by extension, every-where else. Breakfast at Sally's is a rare inside-look at how the other America lives, and how one man, beaten down and alone, was able to reconnect, find good people, and ultimately, with their help, to persevere.

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9781620871799

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Reviews

""This book reads like a novel...but it has the ring of truth, and an uplifting message that endures"". The New York Times.

It's easy to look from afar onto the world LeMieux writes about. People panhandling on corners. Living in cars. Most of us probably figure they've always been down. But how far did they fall? Maybe farther than we think. --Danny Westneat

Not so very long ago, LeMieux was a successful businessman. He ran his own publishing company, lived in a house on the beach, drove a cool car, had a loving family. Then, suddenly, it was all gone: his business collapsed, his family left him, he was evicted from his home. He was nearly 60 years old, and he was homeless. This surprisingly uplifting and upbeat book chronicles his life as a man who lived on the streets. In fact, he began writing the book while he was homeless, banging out the manuscript on a salvaged typewriter, writing about his thoughts and emotions and the people he encountered (including the streetwise C, who exists in the book as LeMieux 's spiritual guide and sidekick). This really is a remarkable book, powerfully written, inspiring, heartbreakingly honest, and, somehow, frequently quite funny. It belongs side by side with Chris Gardner 's The Pursuit of Happyness (2006), Steve Lopez 's The Soloist (2008), and Alexander Masters Stuart: A Life Backwards (2006) as a must-read story of homelessness, determination, and redemption. --David Pitt

Author Information

Richard LeMieux is a writer and ex-businessman who was once happily married and the owner of several cars and three boats. Evicted from his luxury home after his business failed, and living with his dog, Willow, in a beat-up old van, LeMieux wrote Breakfast at Sally's on a secondhand typewriter. He is now a public speaker, talking about his experiences as a homeless person. He and Willow live in Bremerton, Washington.

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