February 3, 2026 – David Marciano (66) was born and raised in Newark, N.J. Attended Seton Hall Prep and Essex Catholic. Graduated from Northeastern University in Boston. Worked in the Entertainment Business for 40 years. Is now retired living on a small pension and social security in the quiet town of Jupiter, Florida. He loves cheffing, playing pickleball, and napping.

Q. If you are in recovery, what was your drug(s) of choice and when is your sobriety date?

A. My drugs of choice were anything that would alter my unbearable state of consciousness.

I preferred barbiturates and sedatives, but I would take anything that was offered and available in the moment.

My sobriety date is … 12/09/85.

Q. Is there anything special in your sobriety toolkit that helps keep you sober?

A. I follow the conventional wisdom of those who have forged the road before me: I go to meetings, pray and mediate, help others, clean house. I pray ONLY for the knowledge of God’s Will for me. I contemplative meditate on spiritual concepts I don’t understand or haven’t incorporated into my sobriety yet.

I also follow and study outside literature: Taoism, Buddhism, Emmet Fox, A Course In Miracles, Richard Rohr, Michael Singer, Eckhart Tolle.

I end my morning ritual of prayers, and Kundalini mantras with where do you want me to be, when do you want me to be there and with whom and then I go about my day being Aware and Serving the Moment.

Q. Do you think addiction is an illness, disease, a choice, or a wicked twist of fate?

A. I don’t what label to give it. I do know I have an affliction and when I ingest alcohol or drugs into my system it sets off a phenomenon of craving and I can’t stop. I believe I have an allergy of the body, with an obsession of the mind, coupled with a spiritual malady and with the pursuit of spiritual guidance I no longer have a desire to alter my current state of consciousness with any form of drugs and alcohol.

Q. Where are you from and where do you reside now?

A. I grew up in Newark, NJ, went to university in Boston, then to California, where I got sober, found a career, got married and had children,  and now I live in Jupiter Florida.

Q. What is one word you would use to describe yourself?

A. Joy.

Q. Describe how you came to your “rock bottom” point.

A. I was studying for my MFA at the Drama Studio of London at Berkley, where I was in my tenth year of daily using. It was there I met my first member of AA, who incessantly reminded me that if I didn’t do something about my drinking and drugging I was going to end up in jail, institutionalized or dead. His mom would send him speaker tapes of AA speakers and he would play them for me when I was hungover. I attribute his tenacity to stay sober by helping others get sober is what saved my life. He became my Eskimo. His name is Douglas Steindorff. God rest his soul.

Q. If you ever retire, would you prefer to live by the ocean, lake, river, mountaintop, desert, or penthouse?

A. I am retired and currently live by the ocean. As for where would I prefer, well that’s up to Source. It wants me where I can be of maximum service to it and its fellows, and wherever that is, that’s where I will live.

Q. How do you measure success?

A. I don’t. I try to live with, and in, a non-dualistic perspective to life, which I encounter as a series of moments/experiences which offer me an opportunity to learn something new about myself, you and the world, to learn to love more deeply and/or to heal an ancient wound or trauma.

Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?

A. My inability, at times, to be patient with myself and those around me.

Q. If you had an extra million dollars, which charity would you donate it to?

A. St. Judes Children’s Hospital.

Q. Who has been the biggest influence throughout your life?

A. If I were to pick one person it would be my Mom. Everything I do from Love today she introduced me to.

Q. If you could give advice to your younger self what would it be?

A. Stay out of the way.

Q. Who made you feel seen growing up?

A. It wasn’t until I was in my 50s did I feel seen and heard. They were women who helped me come to terms with who I could become. Malka and Michelle.

Q. Which living person do you most admire?

A. Eckhart Tolle.

Q. What major event or realization shaped who you are?

A. My parents divorce and then of course getting sober.

Q. What do you love most about living sober?

A. My ability to be of Service.

Q. Which part of your treatment and recovery do you feel was the most interesting or unexpected?

A. The amount of Joy I have experienced from a simple existence.

Q. What’s your concept of a Higher Power?

A. God is Love. Love is an Action and that Action is Service. I call my HP the Universe, Source, Universal Creative Intelligence. God to me is a Consciousness. Energy. It is non binary. Its not a he or a she. It Cares Protects and Guides my Souls Eternal Journey. It gives me signs to follow to a fulfilling and meaningful existence.

Q. What is your Astrological sign?

A. Capricorn.

Q. What book(s) have you read more than once?

A. The Big Book.
The 12 and 12.
The New Earth.
A Course In Miracles.

Q. What books are you reading now?

A. Breathing Under Water – Richard Rohr.
The Sermon on the Mount – Emmet Fox.

Q. If you were giving a dinner party for your 3 favorite authors, living or dead, who would they be?

A. Eckhart Tolle.
John Irving.
Hemmingway.

Q. Which film have you watched the most?

A. The Godfather.
Apocalypse Now.
Forest Gump.
Shawshank Redemption.
Casablanca.
Slum Dog Millionaire.

Q. Who is your favorite film director?

A. Scorcese.
Oliver Stone.
Danny Boyle.
Terrance Malick.

Q. Are you binge watching any TV series?

A. The Bear.
The Pitt.
The Morning Show.

Q. What is your favorite App?

A. My banking app.

Q. Who is your favorite performer, living or dead?

A. Shirley MacLaine.
Tom Waits.
Bruce Springsteen.
Daniel Day Lewis.
Dustin Hoffman.
Sean Penn.
Tom Hanks.
Christopher Walken.
James Cagney.
Humphrey Bogart.

Q. What are some of the most memorable songs in your life?

A. Cats in the Cradle.
Kashmir.
Shine On You Crazy Diamond.
Wish You Were Here.
Going to California.
Love Reign O’er Me.
Love to Love You Baby.
No Quarter.
The Rain Song.

Q. What is your favorite city?

A. Boston.
San Francisco.
New York.
Rome.
Paris.

Q. What is your favorite cuisine?
A. Italian.
Asian.
American.

Q. What is the best concert/performance/play you’ve ever attended?

A. Bowie.
Led Zeppelin.

Q. What are five things you always carry with you?

A. Cash.
Glasses.
Sobriety Medallion.
Pocket Knife.

Q. What is the best and or worse piece of advice someone has given you?

A. I usually don’t seek other’s advice, and when I do I take a group conscience, I then make my own decision. You see, if I take someone’s advice and it doesn’t go my way I can blame them not taking responsibility for my own actions and play the victim.

With that said … To Thine Ownself Be True!

Q. What is the best piece of advice you’ve given someone else?

A. I don’t give advice. I share my experience and let them decide for themselves and support their decision 100% whether I agree with it or not. It’s their Journey to follow.

Q. What is your most treasured possession?

A. My ability to Love.

Q. What do you value most in a friendship?

A. Honesty.

Q. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

A. Staying sober for 24 hours.

Q. What is your favorite compliment to receive, and why?

A. When someone tell me I’m handsome. It makes feel loved and attractive and how talented I am as an actor. These are both ego gratifiers which I’m still prone to. Recognition is something I still respond to. Oh, well.

Q. What is your biggest fear?

A. I can’t say I have any. I fear nothing and no one, most likely because I do not fear death. Once I came to understand that I am Eternal, there was nothing to fear.

Q. Where do you go when you’re seeking solitude?

A. The shower.

Q. If you could wake up tomorrow having gained any one quality or ability, what would it be?

A. Lack of envy.

Q. What would constitute a “perfect” day for you?

A. To rise early.
Play pickleball.
Have a nap.
Eat well.
Share an orgasm.
Sleep well.

Q. What is your biggest regret?

A. Getting in my own way. Not trusting others.

Q. What is the greatest risk you’ve ever taken?

A. IDK… Moving to Hollywood with $2,900 dollars in my pocket and a dream.
Calling the richest and most powerful people I know and asking them for help.
Getting married.
Having children.

Q. Which living person do you most despise?

A. The greedy pedophiles.

Q. What is something you’ve learned about yourself in the last six months?

A. After all these years of spiritual practice I still have some character traits which separate me for God Love and Humanity.

Q. What is something you are currently curious about?

A. What future holds for my Soul along its Eternal Cosmic Journey.

Q. What do you love most about yourself?

A. My open-mindedness and Willingness.

Q. What is your greatest extravagance?

A. Food.

Q. When did you realize you were a grown-up?

A. Still not so sure I have.

When I became self-supporting through my own contributions Emotionally, Physically, Spiritually and Financially.

Q. How important are your pets to you?

A. They are not important me, but I see how important they are for most others and that what’s important me.

Q. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

A. I Love You.