At the young age of 17, James Curry hoped to escape a hostile home by enlisting in the Marines,

and ended up right in the middle of a bloodthirsty, terrible war in Iraq.

James survived his tour duty by hiding being gay under the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy.

But then after returning to his civilian life, lost his first boyfriend and ended up homeless.

Despite these setbacks, James was determined to make something of his life.

And after securing a great job as a news producer, he was dealt the hardest blow of all, a medical diagnosis

of cancer.

Today, Peabody Award-winning journalist and writer James Curry joins us to talk about his

new book, Staying Alive, Surviving Abuse, Fighting a War, and Beating Cancer, My First

25 Years, which chronicles his his abusive family, military service, forbidden

lost love, and the challenges of coming home to fight for your life. I'm Faustofernos. I'm Mark

Phileon. And this is Feast of Fun. Feast of Fun is made possible because of fierce, fabulous people just like you.

Support your favorite podcast in the world, Feast of Fun, by becoming a plus member at Feastafun.com slash plus and access thousands of legendary shows, all without ads.

Or join us on Patreon at patreon.com slash Feast of Fun.

Thank you.

Hello.

Hi, is this James Curry?

Sure is.

Hi, James. This is Fausto.

And Mark from Feast of Fun.

It's a pleasure to have you on the podcast today.

Thank you. Thanks for having me. Of course. We're really enjoying reading your book, staying alive, surviving abuse, fighting a war, and beating cancer. My first 25 years.

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