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Gary Goldstein

Goodreads Author

Born

in Brooklyn, New York, The United States

October 18, 1961

Website

http://www.jewinjail.com/

Twitter

https://twitter.com/gary_goldstein

Genre

Biography, Memoir, Crime

Influences

My parents!

Member Since

September 2010

edit data

I came into the world on October 18, 1961. John F. Kennedy was President of the United States. The film West Side Story was released, and would go on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Major League Baseball was celebrating Roger Maris of the New York Yankees, who hit a then-record 61 home runs that season.

I was an excellent student, although a bit of a class clown too. I spent a majority of my time playing sports, but fell in love with newspapers, which was how I was initially introduced into
writing and storytelling.

While attending Kingsborough Community College from 1979-1981, I served as editor-in-chief of
the school's paper, and then joined the staff at Long Island University's Seawanhaka for my junior and senior years. At L.I.U. I came into the world on October 18, 1961. John F. Kennedy was President of the United States. The film West Side Story was released, and would go on to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Major League Baseball was celebrating Roger Maris of the New York Yankees, who hit a then-record 61 home runs that season.

I was an excellent student, although a bit of a class clown too. I spent a majority of my time playing sports, but fell in love with newspapers, which was how I was initially introduced into
writing and storytelling.

While attending Kingsborough Community College from 1979-1981, I served as editor-in-chief of
the school's paper, and then joined the staff at Long Island University's Seawanhaka for my junior and senior years. At L.I.U. where I earned my Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism in 1983, I was also a selected member of Sigma Delta Chi, as well as Who's Who Among Students in American Universities & Colleges.

My last year in college included an unpaid internship at WCBS-TV, Channel 2 in New York City, where I learned so much about the television business. Upon graduation, I landed a job at the network, starting as a news clerk for The CBS Morning News with Diane Sawyer, and also weekend shifts for The NFL Today with Brent Musburger.

After quickly rising in the ranks to producer, my life suddenly went on a downward spiral due to
addictions to alcohol, drugs and gambling, which ultimately led to nearly six years behind bars for robbery.

My time incarcerated gave birth to my first published book, Jew in Jail, which tells my true story
of how I finally decided to deal with my addictions and turn my life around, all the while under the toughest conditions imaginable of being a minority in the prison system, forced to fend for myself.

Writing Jew in Jail - as I was doing my time - allowed me to become very introspective, and realize that I could help others in similar situations of being an addict and/or living with low self-esteem.

Today, I still reside in my hometown of Brooklyn, New York, where I am working on my next book
project, continuing to promote Jew in Jail, and always helping other addicts through my motivational and inspirational speeches, and one-on-one consultations.

...more

42 posts
Gary Goldstein's Blog

Seven Years Clean & Counting!

Today I celebrate seven years clean and sober!

However, to be perfectly honest, I really do not feel like it should be a celebration of any sort.

Rather, I have always contended that I should always be free from alcohol and drugs, and, therefore, this day, like any other, is the norm!

After all, I had a fine upbringing from my parents, enjoyed a happy childhood, earned a college degree in journalism, Read more of this blog post »

1 like · Like • 0 comments • flag

Published on October 31, 2014 00:00 • Tags: addict, alcohol, alcoholics-anonymous, books, celebrate, drugs, gambling, inspirational, jail, jew-in-jail, journalism, meetings, motivational, narcotics-anonymous, obstacles, pills, potential, prison, recovery, richmond, sober, speeches, tags-gary-goldstein, virginia

View all 42 posts »

Combine Editions
Gary Goldstein’s books

Average rating: 3.69 · 16 ratings · 8 reviews · 2 distinct works

	Jew in Jail 3.69 avg rating — 16 ratings — published 2010 — 5 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jew in Jail: Volume 1 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 2006	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.

Quotes by Gary Goldstein (?)

“Issues are like tissues. You pull one out and another appears!”
― Gary Goldstein, Jew in Jail

tags: addiction, alcohol, court, crime, diary, drugs, gambling, jail, jew, journal, judge, justice, lawyer, prison, recovery, rikers-island, workout

21 likes

Gary’s Quotes

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson

tags: inspirational

1458 likes

“Issues are like tissues. You pull one out and another appears!”
― Gary Goldstein, Jew in Jail

tags: addiction, alcohol, court, crime, diary, drugs, gambling, jail, jew, journal, judge, justice, lawyer, prison, recovery, rikers-island, workout

21 likes

recent posts
Gary’s Groups

Goodreads Authors/Readers — 55917 members — last activity 33 minutes ago
This group is dedicated to connecting readers with Goodreads authors. It is divided by genres, and includes folders for writing resources, book websit ...more

NYC Non-Fiction Book Club — 111 members — last activity Nov 30, 2017 05:52AM
All books non-fiction for folks in the 5 boroughs of New York City. History, politics, science, economics, business, anything that would be of interes ...more

Writings Chats and Friends — 32 members — last activity May 15, 2021 04:32PM
After the fire took down our studio and Monica Brinkmans' home, we decided to create a new internet radio show that includes a bit of writing, and cha ...more

Book Repository — 22 members — last activity Jan 07, 2014 10:17PM
Hello, I am book blogger and I post about books. Daily I post a guest post by an author or author interview, book news or book details given by author ...more

Freelance authors self help — 498 members — last activity Jan 11, 2025 09:18AM
Hello to all self published and freelance authors who are alone and work hard to promote their books. First, this is a secret group. This is a group o ...more

UK Amazon Kindle Forum — 6670 members — last activity 4 hours, 9 min ago
Where every hour is happy hour.

Book Promotions — 3000 members — last activity Jan 16, 2026 05:30AM
Well, it seems there is a group for everything else out there, but not one specifically for promoting books. There are places within groups to do it, ...more

Books + Movies + Tv Shows = Awesome!!! — 339 members — last activity Jan 27, 2019 03:16PM
Tweets by @altomov Share your opinion on the latest and greatest books,movies and Tv shows. New film releases that are coming soon to the big scree ...more

Indie Author's Marketplace — 818 members — last activity Jan 12, 2026 12:57AM
We are a team of Indie authors who want to share our books and those we love with you! This group will allow Indie authors of all genres and types to ...more

Amazon India — 209 members — last activity Feb 07, 2020 12:48AM
Books available on Amazon India

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Gary’s Friend Comments

Comments (showing 1-5) post a comment »

date

newest »

message 5: by C.J.

Jun 16, 2013 08:18AM

C.J. Heck

Hello Gary,
It's such a pleasure having you for a friend. I am looking forward to reading your work! Thank you and best wishes to you.
Warmest regards,
CJ