Redemptive Power of Music & Friendship
Three years ago, journalist Steve Lopez met a homeless musician on skid row in Los Angeles. Lopez learned that the man, Nathaniel Ayers, had once been a promising violinist, and that he had left the prestigious Juilliard School because of his struggle with mental illness. Lopez developed a friendship with Ayers, eventually helping him to get off the street, settle into an apartment and find treatment. Lopez chronicled Ayers' struggle in the Los Angeles Times, and recently published a book called "The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music." NPR features a poignant excerpt from the book.
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