Today’s guest is a hard-working visionary in the field of food-addiction recognition and treatment. He is the co-founder of Acorn Food Dependency Recovery Services, the driving force behind the food addiction institute, and a key figure behind the only med school-sponsored conference on food addiction anywhere, which will be in its third year this fall. This is an edited version of a video interview that you can watch here.

Name Phil Werdell
Born, when and where? Oak Park. Illinois on April 2, 1941
Were there any unusual circumstances regarding your birth? ”There was a rumor, never completely confirmed, that I actually was born on April Fool’s Day, but it was very late and my mother got them to say it was April 2nd.”
April Fool!! Where do you live now? ”I live in Sarasota, Florida.”
Family circumstance ”Well, I am in my second marriage. In my first marriage I had two step-children, Sheila and Maureen, who are in their 50s. My adult children are absolutely delightful on the West Coast and I am newly married to Mary Foushi. We began as recovery buddies and then founded Acorn together and then found out, by golly, we were in a relationship and we have been for about 20 years, but only married for two.”
What did you want to be when you grow up? ”Until I went to college, I wanted to be Robert McNamara. He was a brainy president of a motor company and then a brainy defense secretary. That he later was a major influence in taking us into the Vietnam War, that embarrasses me.”

When I heard about the first food-addiction conference sponsored by a medical institution, it seemed so far off, but finally related activities open today.

I’ve been spreading the word about this event to specific friends on social media, but finally clued in that I should be mentioning it here, too.

I've mentioned Phil Werdell enough times that he has his own keyword on the site, and I'm happy to spread word of his work any time I can. He's a friend and a mentor.

Today, I'm spreading word just a little bit farther, or differently, via Today's Honoree, a website that recognizes someone every day. I'm not sure how I found them; more likely, they found me via a broadly cast e-mail campaign, which is not to say spam.

Via a pointer from my friend Phil Werdell, I mention AARP's June newsletter, which assures that misinformation can appear anywhere. The topic is weight-loss surgery.

Here's the headline to which I refer in the headline of this post:

How Michael Prager’s Book Helped Me Make Lunch for My Kid 

This post relates to the one immediately before it, but I wanted to give it its own headline: The acquaintance between Dr. Tarman and the Acorn folks has led to a five-day food-addiction workshop at the Renascent Center in Toronto beginning Oct. 20.

To register, you can call Sandra Elia at 416-986-0006.