ST. PAUL
He churned out books like "Now That You're Sober," "From Anger to Forgiveness" and "Destination Joy," recorded CDs on "Healing the Inner Child" and "Overcoming the Past," and produced online seminars on "Learning to Let Go" and "Making Relationships Work."
Earnie Larsen, a suspender-wearing former priest, was a one-man industry in the field of self-help and recovery products, writing and producing more than 55 motivational books.
The 71-year-old Brooklyn Park, Minn., resident died Tuesday of pancreatic cancer.
Larsen was a nationally known author and lecturer in the field of recovery, a counselor who created what he called Stage II Recovery, and according to his website, earnie.com, a guest on radio and television shows including "The Oprah Winfrey Show."
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He was the most prolific author published by Hazelden, the Minnesota-based addiction recovery center, according to Hazelden publisher and marketing and communication vice president Nick Motu.
Motu estimated that Hazelden sold hundreds of thousands of Larsen's books, videos and CDs, starting from "Days of Healing, Days of Joy," published in 1987, to "Now That You're Sober," published last year.
"He always emphasized after the addiction is broken, then what," said Larsen's wife, Paula.
"At the end, I think he boiled down his recovery program to love," Motu said. "His view was there's got to be love for one another. Otherwise, healing does not occur."
Two days before he died, Larsen was honored at a gathering at Hazelden in Center City that drew an overflow crowd of more than 500 people.
"It was a Lou Gehrig moment," said Larsen's friend Tom Gegax.
Gegax, founder of the Tires Plus Stores, said he first met Larsen more than 20 years ago when he was going through a personal crisis, which included divorce, cancer and business trouble.
"He was a life savior for me," Gegax said.
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Larsen was sought out by the rich and famous, according to Gegax. He said Eric Clapton was such a fan that Clapton named a building after Larsen in a recovery center the musician started in Antigua, West Indies.
But Gegax said Larsen made it a mission to personally minister to underserved communities, doing volunteer work on American Indian reservations, with the Salvation Army and in prisons.
"I've long called him -- and he's blushed at it -- Father Teresa. What's Earnie? He's Father Teresa," Gegax said.
Paula Larsen said her husband didn't suffer from an addiction himself, but she said his father came from an alcoholic family. She said Larsen was a Catholic priest for about 10 years and that's when he started working with recovering alcoholics.
Larsen was born Aug. 9, 1939, in Omaha, Neb.
Larsen is also survived by daughters Erin French and Cara McNulty; siblings Katie Lashbrook, Carol Hegarty, Steve Larsen and Bill Larsen; and six grandchildren.
Visitation will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday at St. Joan of Arc Church, 4537 Third Ave. S. in Minneapolis, and from 9 to 11 a.m. Saturday, followed by a funeral Mass at 11 a.m. A memorial service also will take place at 10 a.m. Sunday at the First Community Recovery Church, 1220 Logan Ave. N., Minneapolis.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
