ABOUT THE BOOK

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

Relative Distance is a powerful and masculine 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 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. 

David Pruitt is a first-generation college graduate from UNC-Greensboro and previously served on the advisory board for their Bryan School of Business. 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. 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. 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. 

David retired from corporate America in 2016 and began writing Relative Distance. His early life as an abused child taught him how to overcome obstacles and his successful career as a senior executive taught him how to lead and communicate effectively as a writer and speaker. He has a passion and ability to not only tell his story but to help adults, young and old, who were abused as children to live the lives they want, not the ones forced on them.

That’s what Relative Distance is all about: survival, overcoming obstacles, and finding the strength within yourself to get where you want to be.

TALKING POINTS 

• Nature vs. Nurture: Why/How do siblings who are raised by the same parents, under the same conditions, and who are treated similarly in their youth, have their lives go in such different directions? 
• Homelessness: Based on stories told by his brother, David can discuss how issues like early family life, the implications and proliferation of mental illness, and the reaction to and treatment of the homeless by American society contribute to homelessness and how hard it is on a sibling who wants to help
• What are ACEs – Adverse Childhood Experiences?
• How Relative Distance captures the almost immediate implications on the trajectory of a child’s life who’s caught in a dysfunctional family environment
• Five Things an Abused Child Needs to Discover: David can speak to how he found the strength to do what he had to do for himself and his family, and what that can mean to an abused person, a victim of ACE. Five Finds: things an abused child needs to discover in life to have a more decent shot at a productive future 
• Finding Purpose: David can speak to the importance of faith and perseverance for those trying to find their life’s purpose in the aftermath of a difficult upbringing 
• Holiday season: the stress it sometimes causes being with family or not getting to be with family (if you have a family member that’s “lost”)