Brevard County Attorney Writes Children’s Book About Overcoming Depression and Sadness

BREWARD COUNTY, Florida. – Brevard County Attorney Alton Edmond said he wrote Don’t Be Sad for “anyone who struggles with sadness like me, for anyone who struggles with depression like me, for anyone who needs a little bit of hope and inspiration that their circumstances can somehow change for the better.”

He said the book was based on his own experiences as a boy growing up in Florida.

He said he enjoyed being exposed to culture and family as a child, but also experienced “a bit tragic” things growing up in what he calls Hendry County’s “low-income, high-crime neighborhood”.

Edmond said he also dealt with bullying from people in the community, and sometimes members of his family.

When people open his book, Edmond said: “I think parents and children can look forward to the opportunity to enter the life of a young person who is struggling and see through his eyes, what they feel, what their emotions are, and also see things that helped this young man to get out of this hole. For example, you know, I needed to surround myself with positive influences and engage myself in constructive activities in order to really focus my attention on positive things and start developing some sense of self-importance, self-awareness and self-respect.”

He said that part of that process was joining the wrestling team.

Don’t Be Sad by Alton Edmond (Copyright 2023 WKMG ClickOrlando – All Rights Reserved.)

“I will never forget, when I was in ninth grade at Cleviston High School, I met a gym coach, a gym coach named Michael Irving. And he’s a character in my book that has had a huge impact on my life because he’s the one who recruited me to the wrestling team. Today I am the wrestling coach at Cocoa High School where I live. And it’s because of him.”

Edmond said that Irving’s name and likeness appear in the book.

Edmond said he’s already getting a lot of positive feedback, especially from people in his hometown, “because this book shows real places I’ve been to and experienced; my middle school, my high school, the projects I grew up with.”

At first he said, “It was a little uncomfortable being so vulnerable because I think, as you said, it’s not something that is usually talked about in the black and brown community.”

But Edmond said he hopes his book will help more people talk about mental health.

Don’t Be Sad is available on Amazon and EdmondInspiration.com.

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