Death & Grief, Parenting, Self-Help
Date Published: 06-20-2023
Publisher: Koehler Books
A week before Christmas 1951, Dr. Ralph Russell risked everything to voluntarily enter a locked federal drug-treatment facility known as a "narcotic farm."
Sixty-five years later, Dr. Russell's granddaughter Debbie suffers a debilitating crisis of identity when her father (Dr. Russell's oldest son), always her biggest fan, is accepted into hospice.
Debbie's investigation into her paternal lineage reveals family secrets and ignites her mother's volatile outbursts, propelling her into therapy.
When therapy fails her, the grandfather Debbie never knew saves her, and she collaborates with her dying father one last time to make her biggest dream come true.
Crossing Fifty-One pulls back the curtain on the internal struggles of midlife and provides a blueprint for redefining one's self beyond the constraints of addiction and dysfunctional family dynamics.
About the Author
Debbie Russell is a lawyer-turned writer. She spent twenty-five years as an Assistant County Attorney in Minneapolis, prosecuting numerous high-profile cases—specializing in those involving domestic and child abuse. At age fifty-five, Debbie took early retirement, giving up a full pension for the freedom of time. She now spends that precious time writing, restoring her property to native prairie and wetlands, and training her rambunctious retrievers.
Debbie’s first published article appeared in the Minneapolis Star Tribune in 2001. After that small triumph, her writing focused primarily on legal briefs and memoranda, which were consigned to district court files. Debbie resumed creative writing in 2014 when she began her storytelling blog by sharing personal stories and professional experiences that touched her life in a significant way. Her top-ranked December 2021 article for Elephant Journal, an online journal that celebrates the mindful life is entitled “Getting the Most out of Therapy: Easier Said than Done,” and is partially based on events in her book.
Debbie's award-winning book, Crossing Fifty-One: Not Quite a Memoir, was released in June of 2023. In 2024, she became a regular contributor to the Minnesota Star Tribune, writing about criminal justice and adjacent issues.
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