Story of his life is a winner in H.B. contest

Chad McCann got sober 14 years ago, ending about 20 years of on-and-off homelessness, health problems and alienation from friends and relatives.

Now along with rebuilding his life, he has something else to feel good about: winning the title of Huntington Beach’s greatest storyteller of 2015.

The 52-year-old resident of Orange, who describes himself as a storyteller and songwriter, recounted his struggle for sobriety in a poem read to a crowd of about 50 people at the first-ever Huntington Beach Searches for its Greatest Storyteller competition on Dec. 3 at the Huntington Beach Art Center.

His relationship with alcohol began when he was 18, he said. He had his first drink on the night former Beatle John Lennon died, Dec. 8, 1980.

“A friend that I never met was shot to death by circumstance/ In trying to forget, I listened to all the memories that he had left behind/ While I was altering my chemistry while drinking beer and wine,” he recounted in the poem, alluding to the musician’s death at the hands of gunman Mark David Chapman.

He said drinking made him feel a “numbing sort of ecstasy.”

But his decades-long struggle with addiction left a broken life.

“Every opportunity and bridge that I had in life was burned,” he said in an interview after the competition. “After a time, I was not able to work, so I wasn’t able to pay rent. There were people that would put me up for a little while, but those people — friends or girlfriends — eventually told me to go because of my drinking.”

During his estimated 30 attempts to get sober, he said he went through various recovery programs and stayed at halfway houses.

He said he hit rock bottom when he was homeless and couldn’t even manage to keep track of his shoes — he woke up barefoot in a hospital bed — and he found solace in a group of people who were also struggling with addiction problems. It was then, about 20 years after he first started drinking, that he became sober.

He credits Huntington Beach, where he lived from 2002 to 2006. There he was able to stay sober while remaining creative.

“In Huntington Beach, I fell in with a group of people that were singer/songwriters and all in recovery,” he said. “They would share with each other creatively. That helped me to find that I could actually have fun in my recovery. I had put my guitar away thinking I wasn’t able to play anywhere, because all the open mics were in bars. These people helped me realize I could still pursue my singing and songwriting and remain sober.”

As McCann finished reciting his seven-minute poem during the competition’s final round, the crowd erupted into applause and gave him a standing ovation.

Mariana Williams, creator of the Huntington Beach Searches for its Greatest Storyteller competition, which was open to residents and non-residents, said she created the event to encourage people to share their stories, away from digital outlets like social media.

Dozens of participants in the competition were whittled down over four rounds. During each round, volunteers would vote and the top picks would move to the next round. McCann and one other contestant competed in the final showdown. Two other contestants were scheduled but did not show up, officials said.

Williams said she was impressed with the way McCann presented his story.

“I’ve been doing this almost six years, and I’ve never seen anybody take the time to rhyme their life story,” said Williams, who has done similar competitions in Long Beach. “It was pretty awesome that people stood up and applauded.”

McCann said he entered the competition after a friend recommended it to him. He won $50 but said the joy was in being recognized and seeing storytelling being encouraged in this modern age.

“It was a wonderful night with a real eclectic collection of stories,” he said. “It went from very intimate to very epic. Storytelling is one of the oldest forms of entertainment. Storytelling isn’t really around anymore other than in standup comedy. It’s great we were able to share ourselves.”