Dying to be Perfect
Dying to Be Perfect is a poignant telling of the experiences and challenges presented by male anorexia nervosa. In this book, Susan Barry recounts in great detail, the painful journey as a mother, her son’s disease progression and contents of his box of memoirs. She includes heartfelt writings from others who also witnessed the gradual disappearance of the wonderful TJ they knew and loved. The information and insights educate and generate awareness of the disorder and its far reaching impacts. Dying to be Perfect WILL make a difference. This is simply an incredible story.
About the Author: Susan Barry graduated from Michigan State University with a Masters degree and taught elementary school for thirty years, until her retirement. She is an avid tennis player and has twice played in national championships. After her son’s passing, she started a support group, has helped more than thirty families around the country navigate the struggle against eating disorders, given talks at several universities, held five charity races in TJ’s memory, and raised thousands of dollars for research into cures. She lives in Michigan with her husband John and daughter Jessica. To learn more about her fund-raising efforts and make a contribution to TJ’s Fund for Eating Disorder Research, go to www.aedweb.org and click on “Get Involved,” “Donate,” and “TJ’s Fund.”
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Author Susan Barry on the Katie Couric show
Susan Barry opens up to Katie Couric about her son’s battle with anorexia – a battle that ended up taking his life. Hear her talk about her nine-year nightmare and find what she’s doing to prevent it from happening to other parents.
Amazon Reviews:
5 Stars! – Buy this book. You will be inspired by Susan Barry’s story about her son’s battle with Anorexia. June 4, 2013 - This is a heart-wrenching story about a wonderful young man, T. J. and his amazing mother, Susan Barry. The story will tell of T.J.’s struggles with trying to be perfect and Susan Barry’s relentless battle to help her son. It is a story that will touch your heart… a must read!
– Jane Jenkins Herlong (Johnston, SC)
5 stars! – Very moving story and helpful information for the families and individuals struggling with this illness. June 6, 2013 – I am thankful that some people have the courage to open up their hearts and souls in order to help others. This tragedy will hopefully be used to prevent other individuals and families from having the same outcome as TJ.
– Alana Vallone
5 stars! – Such a wonderful, inspirational and emotional read. June 7, 2013 – This book was much more than I expected. I was enthralled from page one and truly feel that anyone reading the book will feel emotionally connected to this family and its heart-wrenching story, and won’t be able to put the book down. I laughed, I cried and I learned a lot. I hope that those with a loved one facing this dreadful disease will read this book, because it might save a life. But I also think that anyone and everyone would be pulled in by this incredible story.
– Karen Brandenburg
5 stars! – Hope out of tragedy, June 10, 2013 – This is so much more than a memoir–and so worth the heartache you will feel as you turn each page, hoping vainly for TJ to experience a miraculous release from the devious and destructive grip of anorexia. Susan Barry tells her son’s (and her own) story bravely, without flinching from the stark truth of what this disease does to families, how the clinical and educational establishments can fail to help–and what it feels like to watch your bright, talented child literally disappear before your eyes. And in the course of her narrative, TJ emerges as a complex, passionate, irresistible young man you will never forget.
Anyone with experience of this illness–and anyone who wants to understand it better–will find help, hope, and concrete advice within this page-turning story. I encourage you to read it and share it as a first step in helping to combat the ravages of a widely misunderstood condition that affects as many as one in four young people today.
– LauraR
5 stars! Dying to be Perfect, Excellent tool, June 10, 2013 – For those of us who knew TJ the story is heartbreaking. But for anyone who did not it is still compelling. When it became obvious that TJ was ill with his eating disorder I read every book I could find on the subject… hoping to find something that might help the family. I found nothing like the book Susan wrote. If I were a doctor or a therapist dealing with eating disorders I would order a case of these books and hand them out to parents.
– Craig E. Weis
A Healing Place, LLC – Counseling Center
Britt & TJ’s flyer
Home TV
Melissa Sebring Reporting
Britt and TJ’s Place and the book, Dying to be Perfect, help families struggling with eating disorders and how they can seek help.
Britt and TJ’s Place
Katie Couric Show
Demi Lovato & Men with Eating Disorders
Katie Couric Segment
WILX – Lansing, MI
Eating Disorder Treatment Center Opens in Jackson
Article: Eating Disorder Treatment Center Opens in Jackson
Community Connection
Interview with Susan Barry – Local TV
Interview with Susan Barry
December 6, 2014 Western High School, Jackson, MI