HALIFAX -- One Good Reason: A Memoir of Addiction and Recovery, Music and Love is a deeply personal story co-written by Séan McCann – a founding member of Great Big Sea and mental health advocate – and his wife Andrea Aragon.
Aragon says, after two years of work, unboxing the memoir was a special moment for the pair.
“Having it in our hands, being able to see the whole thing together, it was absolutely thrilling and amazing,” she says.
The books looks back at McCann’s childhood in Newfoundland -- surviving sexual abuse, the formation and success of the band Great Big Sea, his battle with alcoholism, and other experiences from both McCann’s and Aragon’s lives.
McCann says it was hard to relive those experiences, which is why it took so long to finish the book.
“I’ve learned that just because a thing is hard, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it,” says McCann.
“In fact, in my experience, the harder things are, it kind of shows you are heading in the right direction. You are doing the right kind of work. People drink and use drugs for reasons and I hope that this book can dig into those things and show people how they can overcome their own secrets and deal with their own truth.”
The memoir also provides an intimate look into what Aragon and McCann went through as a couple.
“My position in this was to give a face and a name and a voice to the families that are affected by addiction, because it’s not just the addict that goes through it, goes through addiction and recovery. It is also the family members that are surrounding them,” says Aragon.
“It was necessary for the telling of our story. I’ve said recently that if making ourselves vulnerable can help anybody, that’s what the goal of this was.”
McCann has been creating music for three decades. He says writing a book was a very different process.
“This long-form writing really meant digging in and using a different kind of muscle and unravelling it and focusing in on detail and description in a different way,” he says.
The essence of the book is that we are all worth saving -- a message McCann hopes resonates with readers.
“We all have to dig deep and find our one good reason. We all suffer, but everyone has the means to overcome it.”
