MARY GUIBERT WAS AN INTEGRAL PART OF LAUNCHING AND DEVELOPING ROAD RECOVERY IN JEFF BUCKLEY’S HONOR TO FILL THE VOID OF HIS LOSS
“His loss was so unfathomable, so incalculable that it would take all of us, collectively, to make up for the loss”
“A Golden Promise is one that must never be broken. It is made in one’s heart to another heart that’s just departed this life. Look into your soul and find a Promise you can keep that would make this world a better place, even if just for a moment.”
– Mary Guibert (an excerpt from The Golden Promise passage)
New York, NY (May 24, 2022) – Entertainment non-profit Road Recovery and its co-founders, Gene Bowen and Jack Bookbinder, along with Jeff Buckley’s mother Mary Guibert, are commemorating his legacy by renewing the “The Golden Promise,” a passage written and read by Guibert from his eulogy.
This year marks 25 years since his tragic passing on May 29 and Guibert would like to re-share its message of salvation, unity, and rejuvenation as it relates to today more than ever. In the passage, she pleads, “Look into your soul and find a Promise you can keep that would make this world a better place.”
The inspiring passage was an invitation, a challenge for everyone who knew and/or mourned Buckley’s passing to provide the antidote for his absence, to fill the void it now created in the universe of harmony, beauty, and compassion. “His loss was so unfathomable, so incalculable that it would take all of us, collectively, to make up for the loss,” said Guibert.
In 1998 Guibert made a pledge that she would help launch and develop Road Recovery with Bowen who was Buckley’s tour manager and Bookbinder who was formerly part of Buckley’s artist management team. Guibert said, “I don’t know if anyone who’s read The Golden Promise actually took my challenge to heart, but I do know about two gentlemen (Gene Bowen and Jack Bookbinder) who did. And what they have created out of that promise has saved hundreds of lives and has become the model for nation-wide programs that could save thousands more in the future. That idea became the non-profit they decided to call Road Recovery”
“From the earliest days of Road Recovery, Mary Guibert was generous in her non-profit contributions, financial and in-kind to our charity,” said co-founders, Bowen and Bookbinder. “In addition to being proactive as an early board member, she rolled up her sleeves, voiced her support as a mother and entrepreneur, specifically in grant research and writing, with the benefits that reverberate to this day.”
Road Recovery is an entertainment industry-driven non-profit organization dedicated to helping young people battle addiction and other adversities by empowering them to face their struggles while teaching them comprehensive life skills. Guibert donated funds to the organization, became a board member, and rallied support to help launch ROAD RECOVERY a few months later.
“Now, 24 years later, based on Road Recovery’s success rate, with the grant funding and approval of The Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, an office of the United States Department of Justice, that promise is on the brink of taking their amazing organization to the next level. Talk about faith the size of a mustard seed having the power to move a mountain – Jack and Gene, with the support from so many artists and industry colleagues, have moved a few – and they keep on moving them. Promises fulfilled. We can help them build on their success and bring that healing to more young people and their loved ones of all ages who hunger for a purpose that lifts them out of their despair and leads them toward a brighter future and a better world — and music, music, music,” Guibert concludes.
Photo Credit: © Road Recovery Foundation, Inc. (L-R Jack Bookbinder, Mary Guibert, Gene Bowen and Fan Club Manager, Laurie Trombley)
Closing passage written and read by Jeff Buckley’s mother, Mary Guibert from his memorial service held at St. Ann & The Trinity Church in Brooklyn, New York on July 31,1997
Clearly, this young man touched countless lives with his vitality and humanity. The absence of this being from our little planet is a tragic loss for everyone, if we consider his musical talent alone. Thank God we have the music and his recordings to console us. What we have lost by way of his tenderness and soulfulness is beyond measure, and cannot be replaced…unless, perhaps, each of us makes a Golden Promise to act on his behalf from this day forward.
A Golden Promise is one that must never be broken. It is made in one’s heart to another heart that’s just departed this life. Look into your soul and find a Promise you can keep that would make this world a better place, even if just for a moment. Commit “random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty”… demonstrate the courage to follow your bliss.
And if, when you go to that silent, certain place in your heart, you find there a Promise you can make that gives you a higher purpose in life, then make the strongest vow you’ve ever made and maybe, just maybe, together we’ll be able to repair the damage done to this lowly little world by the untimely passing of this gentle minstrel.
– Mary Guibert
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Established in 1998, Road Recovery is an entertainment industry-driven non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to helping young people battle addiction and other adversities by empowering at-risk youth from all backgrounds to face their struggles while teaching them comprehensive life skills.
Guided by music and entertainment industry professionals who have confronted similar life struggles, and with support from the mental health field, Road Recovery’s action-driven programs provide mentorship, performance workshops, and “all-access” opportunities for a community of motivated peers to create and produce live concert events and studio recording projects. We offer all-access programs that empower youth to identify, express, and amplify their voices together in hopes of positively impacting both themselves and a greater audience.
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