Originally published on May 10, 2017
By Randy Walker
@TenniisPublisher
It was the summer of 2008 when I received the voicemail.
The voice on the other side of the phone was serious with a Texas drawl. The man identified himself as Cliff Richey, who said he called on the recommendation of Insidetennis -publisher Bill Simons. He wanted to talk to me about my book publishing company New Chapter Press Publishing his memoirs.
I knew Cliff as one of the great American tennis players in the late 1960s, early 1970s. I had a ballboyed for him during the annual senior tennis tournament in my home town of New Canaan, Connecticut and I even had his signature.
When we spoke, Cliff told me about his life and repair of paralyzing depression and that he wanted to become more of a mental health lawyer to help people who are also affected by this terrible disease and condition.
He thought that the story that was told in his book would do a lot of good to help people better understand the disease and to help reduce stigma of people who admit they have depression.
“I want it to say on the serious stone that he was a great tennis player and he was a argument for mental health,” Cliff said that day.
We finally published his book that we have the title “Acing Depression: the most difficult match of a tennis champion” In 2010 and now, Cliff, a two-time member of the winning US Davis Cup team, is now a double author in the publication of his second book “Your playbook for beating depression” Written with Mary Garrison.
Cliff and I have discussed the concept of this book for years, because it is a book that can immediately help for a person in need with depression. “Acing Depression” is more a memoir, with ‘depression’ as a supporting character, per se, in the story of Cliff’s life. Although “acing depression” gives people a better understanding of what depression is and how someone can have it treated by Cliff’s lives, people who urgently need help “playbook for defeating depression”. If you feel that you or someone you know are about to do something drastically as a result of depression, you should get this book as quickly as possible.
According to statistics, one in 20 people in the United States suffers from depression. Most of us know at least 20 people, so there is a good chance that one of them will have depression. They probably suffer from depression and you don’t even know.
In the past year I made a new friend in Vero Beach, Florida, where I spend a lot of time outside of New York and where I the USTA Pro Circuit event in the city of Run. While he met this new friend for beers and hamburgers last December, he told me about some setbacks in his personal life, which I tried to help him and began to present the positive side of what can be done. Three weeks later he committed suicide. People said he was suffering from depression, which I did not know, nor he indicated during our short friendship. If I had only known that he had this disease, I would have brought him into contact with Cliff and gave him an advance of “your playbook for beating depression”. It may have saved his life.
Two other ‘social media’ friends of mine placed that they also suffer from the disease. I sent them both copies of “acing depression” to help them understand their condition and will also send them the new book.
Shortly after Cliff received his new copies of the press from “you playbook for steeping depression” he texted me and told me he heard from a person in his circle who suffered from depression. Cliff found him crying, just as he described himself in ‘acing depression’. Cliff gave him a copy of the book and hopefully this will help him with guidance about treating his condition.
Since I met Cliff, I have a better understanding of depression. It is a disease, such as cancer or heart disease. You can’t shake the feeling of gloom. It is not something that you can simply “suck” or “become happy” and getting perspective. It is a terrible malaise and feeling of fear and fear that you cannot happen to. Cliff is a first people of celebrities who stand up and show that there should be no stigma to admit that you have depression. You can be a macho man and still admit that you have this condition and that you can seek help publicly. It is interesting to see how other celebrities come out and say they have depression, especially Bruce Springsteen. You can’t get much more macho than the Texan Cliff Richey of the Hard Nose and “The Boss” Bruce Springsteen.
Because of the grapevine and gossip it has come to me that I use the depression of people to make money and to have a book, which is completely laughable. If people only realized how much I dissected my ass on all these books that I publish through a new chapter to just break. Five percent of the published books lose money. It is only because of my creativity that I do not lose my shirt on these books. Cliff’s books, especially ‘your playbook for beating depression’, are different. This is about saving lives.
I am very proud of Cliff and his courage and his efforts to draw more attention to depression. He has already saved lives and I know he will continue to save more.
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