Larry Branch

Author bio

My parents were dirt-poor cotton pickers in Arkansas. My early childhood was marked by poverty, an alcoholic and physically abusive father, and my mother’s death when I was nine. I didn’t attend school regularly until the fourth grade after my father abandoned me. Larry ‘came of age’ living in five different foster homes. I served my country in the Army where I was severely wounded in the Vietnam War and was awarded a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star for Heroism, and the Vietnamese Gallantry Cross. Following my military service, I built a new life. I married and had two children. I started two businesses and eventually became the Director of Operations of a multi-million-dollar enterprise. I've been entangled in our social justice system for the past fifteen years. I am now retired and live in Austin, Texas. Larry battled an internal conflict most of his life as he tried to come to terms with his sexual identity. His life dramatically changed after he committed his one and only crime which led to a five-year prison sentence and ten years' probation. His criminal act caused his 43-year marriage to collapse and his children to turn against him. After completing his prison sentence, he became destitute and homeless. Larry contemplated suicide while experiencing disheartening flaws and inequities in our fractured probation system that severely hindered his ability to ‘come out.’ Larry is publishing "Walk a Mile in My Shoes," which is filled with raw and unflinching personal stories about his unprecedented self-realizations and heart-breaking agonies. His story is an honest portrayal of one man’s journey that speaks to the resilience of the human spirit in the face of staggering misfortune.