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Sleep Country Canada Co-Founder Gordon Lownds Releases Shocking Memoir Cracking Up Detailing 1,000 Day Descent Into Addiction
Vancouver, Canada Gordon Lownds, celebrated entrepreneur and cofounder of the billion dollar mattress retail empire Sleep Country Canada, has stepped into the literary spotlight with the release of his memoir Cracking Up: From Rising Star to Junkie Despair in 1,000 Days. The book is now available worldwide.
Told with unflinching candour, Cracking Up chronicles Lownds’ dramatic fall from the height of corporate success into the depths of drug addiction. At the age of 48, while steering Sleep Country to national prominence alongside cofounders Stephen Gunn and Christine Magee, Lownds appeared to be living the dream. But a single ill fated encounter with crack cocaine in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside spiralled into a harrowing journey through hardcore drug use, dangerous underworld dealings, overdoses, and near death experiences.
“This is the crushing and shocking chronicle of a seemingly invincible man who lost everything,” Lownds writes. “Addiction can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere.”
The memoir spares no detail, depicting encounters with drug dealers, bikers, blackmail, and a psychotic relationship, all while chasing the next fix. It is as much a cautionary tale as it is a story of resilience, exploring how, through the support of friends, strangers, and the recovery community, Lownds was able to claw his way back from the brink.
The path to recovery proved no less complex than the addiction itself. Lownds’ time in rehab, compounded by the sudden reality of being a multimillionaire in recovery, presented a new set of challenges, ones he confronts with humour, humility, and insight.
Early praise for Cracking Up has been effusive. Stephen Gunn, Lownds’ former business partner, calls it “a journey through the wild, midlife sex and drug addiction of a previously sober, serious, and successful businessman,” adding, “Hunter S. Thompson has nothing on Gord Lownds.” Professor Neil Seeman of the University of Toronto hails it as “a tour de force of wit and wisdom… an essential work for anyone seeking to truly understand the complexities of addiction.”
A graduate of York University (BA, Philosophy) and the University of Toronto (MBA), Lownds built a career in retail, investment banking, and management consulting before cofounding Sleep Country in 1994. Under his leadership, the company was repeatedly recognised among Canada’s Best Managed Private Companies before its sale to Bain Capital in 1999. He later cofounded ListenUP! Canada, expanding it to over 120 locations before selling in 2012.
Cracking Up is available now through major booksellers and online retailers.
Connect with Gordon Lownds:
Website: gordonlownds.com
LinkedIn: Gordon Lownds
Instagram: @gordonlownds
