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'Homeless To Harvard' Author To Speak At STAR Luncheon In Darien

NORWALK, Conn. -- Liz Murray, author of New York Times best seller, "Breaking Night: A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard" will speak on Thursday, April 30, to benefit STAR, Inc., Lighting the Way and its programs and services for those with developmental disabilities. 

Liz Murray

Liz Murray

Photo Credit: Contributed

The event will be moderated by Sharon Crowley, reporter and anchor for Fox5 News, at Woodway Country Club in Darien from noon until 2 p.m. 

Murray tells an engaging, powerfully motivational story about turning her life around after growing up the neglected child of drug addicts. When Murray was born in 1980, her former beatnik father was in jail for illegally trafficking in prescription painkillers, and her mother, a cocaine addict since age 13, had just barely missed losing custody of their year-old daughter, Lisa.

Murray and her sister grew up in a Bronx apartment that gradually went to seed, living off government programs and whatever was left after the parents indulged their drug binges. 

By age 15, with the help of her best friend Sam and an elusive hustler, Carlos, she took permanently to the streets, relying on friends, sadly, for shelter. With the death of her mother, her runaway world came to an end, and she began her step-by-step plan to attend an alternative high school, which eventually led to a New York Times scholarship and acceptance to Harvard. In this incredible story of true grit, Murray went from feeling like "the world was filled with people who were repulsed by me" to learning to receive the bountiful generosity of strangers who truly cared.

Tickets cost $85 per person. To register and order tickets, click here.

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