Relative Distance: A Memoir

by David Pruitt

Overview

Relative Distance is a powerful memoir of resilience and faith. While it’s an unflinching look at brothers being raised by a violent, abusive father and a detached, mentally ill mother, it’s also an inspiring account of two distinctive life journeys and an examination of the role played by family and society in individual homelessness. 

 
After surviving his tumultuous upbringing, David Pruitt rises to become a CEO in Corporate America, while his brother, Danny, becomes a long-time homeless traveler. As David helps to grow a fledgling North Carolina business into what is at the time the largest specialty bicycle retailer in the United States, Danny sleeps under overpasses, jumps passing freight cars, lives in and out of shelters, faces death more than once—and encounters the best and worst of America in a restless search to find a better place in the world. Yet, despite their differences, a common thread runs through the distinct trajectories of the brothers’ lives: each of them struggles with difficult psychological issues stemming from their troubled past. 

 
This deeply moving memoir examines the lifelong challenges that often come for those raised in an abusive home, along with the limitless possibilities we open ourselves to when we allow faith and determination to overcome judgment and fear.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781684631698
Publisher:	SparkPress
Publication date:	10/04/2022
Pages:	328
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

David Pruitt is a first-generation college graduate from UNC-Greensboro and previously served on the advisory board for their Bryan School of Business. As a senior leader in the U.S Bicycle industry, he served on the board of “People for Bikes,” a national organization with 1.3 million members that works to make riding a bicycle in America safer, easier to access, and more fun. A licensed CPA and a member of the AICPA and NCACPA, David started his business career in an entry-level accounting position before advancing to first CFO, then CEO, of Performance Bike, for a time the largest cycling retailer in the United States. He is an avid reader, a happily married husband for over thirty years, and a proud father of two successful children. He currently resides in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Table of Contents

Part I At Eighteen

1 The Park 1

2 The Woods 6

3 The Fight 10

Part II Boys to Men

4 Oak Grove 23

5 The Biting Words 29

6 Mariachi Sounds 38

7 Phoenix Rising 45

Part III Scenes of Survival

8 Pictures 55

9 Wynken, Blynken and Nod-and Herman 59

10 Coffee and the Sixth Floor 65

11 A Father's Name 74

12 Ya Ain't Worth a Shit for Nothin' 83

13 The Orphan 86

14 The First Speech 94

15 Looking for Angels 101

16 The Break 106

17 The Missing Twenty 117

18 An Epiphany 122

19 Out of the Woods 128

20 The Mother Question 136

Part IV Rising and Running

21 Getting Down to Business 151

22 Running Down to the Riptide 164

23 The Second Speech 171

24 Meet the Family 178

25 Peach Field 185

26 Lima Beans and CFOs 194

27 Sunset in Savannah 205

Part V Life, Death, and the Relative Distance

28 T-shirts 215

29 The Stupid One 217

30 Dirty Face and the Law 223

31 WTF 232

32 The Advice 239

33 The Third Speech 247

34 An Un-wasted Act of Kindness 254

35 Acceptance? 264

36 The Faith Mission 276

37 Retail Apocalypse 283

38 Dad 290

39 Relative Distance 294

Epilogue: My Best Answer 298

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2022

Pruitt, former CEO of the retailer Performance Bicycle, delves into his traumatic Southern upbringing and how his faith helped him build a life and career, in this unpolished if uplifting memoir. Growing up in Greensboro, N.C., in the 1960s, Pruitt was insecure about his unhappy childhood home and embarrassing facial cysts. His mother suffered from mental illness and his father was physically and verbally abusive. Yet, Pruitt writes, he cultivated the courage and the self-esteem that was initially suffocated by his father (“I didn’t have time for dreaming,” his father derides) with the encouragement of business mentors, fictional father figures like Andy Griffith, and his Christian faith (“Talking with God makes me feel like I’m not alone in my struggles”). His two older brothers, however, became vagabonds after being kicked out of their home by their father, their histories related in a sympathetic yet broadly disapproving tone. Events are often teased in fractured vignettes before Pruitt fills in the gaps, among them the author being forced as a child to wear his urine-soaked underwear on his head, his brother sleeping in a park, and a business meeting with financiers as his company teetered on the brink. The writing is prosaic, but well paced. Pruitt’s bootstrapping mentality should appeal to fellow boomers, particularly those of faith. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

Uplifting memoir… Pruitt’s bootstrapping mentality should appeal to fellow boomers, particularly those of faith.”

—Publishers Weekly  

“An incredible human and sympathetic look at homelessness as seen through a brother’s eyes, and a brilliant look at how determination, faith and gumption can overcome fear and the limitations of the world we are born into.”

—Lee Woodruff, New York Times best-selling author, speaker and executive media trainer

“David Pruitt’s brave and beautiful memoir Relative Distance teaches us about the miraculous resilience of the human spirit. But it's the book's generous compassion that makes it singular, offering something to each of us, no matter our circumstances.”

—Aran Shetterly, author of The Americano and the forthcoming book Morningside 

“With hundreds of books published each year intending to show its’ readers a path to 'self-help,' first-time author David Pruitt’s remarkable memoir Relative Distance provides a well-marked alternative passage to personal discovery and growth. Everyone, no matter where they are along life’s journey, will find within this superbly crafted narrative, something enlightening and uniquely relevant to their lives—while being touched in ways that are totally unexpected but deeply resonant.”

—Tom Tolworthy, former President of Barnes and Noble and former CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe

“First-time author David Pruitt has crafted a stunning memoir that is at once beautifully written, insightful, and thought-provoking. It is storytelling at its very best and a message of hope for all who have traveled a difficult road.”

—Trish Lockard, co-author of Make a Difference with Mental Health Activism, certified instructor for Family-to-Family, the flagship program of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), memoir editor, and writing coach

“This is both a memoir and an instructional journey about overcoming abuse, building courage, developing determination, finding mentorship in life, and uplifting yourself out of darkness through faith. Written by the CEO of a large bicycle retailer, Pruitt’s trade is a fitting metaphor for this compelling story: he develops his personal protective gear, adjusts his speed when approaching bumps in the road, and finally breaks the cycle of abuse while taking the reader on a safe ride towards hope.”

—Sara O’Meara, Childhelp Co-founder & CEO, and Yvonne Fedderson, Childhelp Co-Founder & President

 

“Powerful! Buy it. Read it. Understand the real roots of homelessness!” 

—Judith Knotts, author of You Are My Brother, Lessons Learned Embracing a Homeless Community

“One man’s journey of faith and restorative resilience…By the time you finish the final chapter, you will admire the author’s courage in sharing this narrative; it is a message of hope for all those struggling to overcome the circumstances of their lives.”

—The Epoch Times

“Vivid images and incisive observations interweave and deepen this memoir….the gripping power of this book is the way Pruitt begins to break the cycle of abuse even as a beaten-down child.”   

—Southern Literary Review

From the Publisher