Bestselling Author and Mental Health Advocate
What do a beauty pageant winner, a retired state probation officer, a former homeless man, and a grieving father have in common?
Pete Earley talking with Nita Brown, NAMI President Arapahoe Douglas Counties
Those of you who read my blog regularly can easily guess the answer. All four have had their lives impacted by mental illnesses. But that is not why I am writing about them. I want to share their stories with you because of how they have chosen to react to the hurdles they’ve encountered.
One of the lessons that I’ve learned visiting mental health programs in 46 states during the past four years is how often a small, common sense change in policy can have a huge impact on helping persons who are ill. 
I saw an example of this when I toured the Los Angeles City Jail, which many of you know has become the largest de facto public mental heath facility in our nation with an average population of 1,400 prisoners with mental disorders.
Just before Christmas, I was the Master of Ceremonies for the 13th Annual Woodley House Movie Benefit in Washington D.C., which meant that I got to give a three minute talk about mental health before a movie was shown. As always, I spoke about how 18 percent of persons in jails and prisons have severe mental illnesses and need treatment not imprisonment. I talked about how 17 percent of the 130,000 homeless persons in our nation are chronically homeless, meaning that they move between the streets and jails and shelters – and most of them have severe mental illnesses and are not receiving meaningful treatment.
And then I announced some good news. We know how to help many persons with mental illnesses.
Pete Earley is the bestselling author of such books as The Hot House and Crazy. When he is not spending time with his family, he tours the globe advocating for mental health reform.
As a former reporter for The Washington Post, Pete uses his journalistic background to take a fair-minded approach to the story all while weaving an interesting tale for the reader.