About David

David Magee is a bestselling author, speaker, producer, and storyteller whose work helps students, families, and communities confront addiction, strengthen mental health, and rediscover connection, purpose, and joy.

He is the author of the award-winning memoir Dear William: A Father’s Memoir of Addiction, Recovery, Love, and Loss, a Publishers Weekly national bestseller, a 2021 Best Book of the South selection, and the recipient of a starred review from Kirkus Reviews.

Dear William is now in production as a feature film directed by Andrew Hyatt, whose credits include The Blind and Sight. The film extends David’s family story of addiction, loss, recovery, and hope to a wider audience. Its anticipated for 2027 release.

David’s next book, Walk With Me: A Father and Son Find Their Way Together, releases in 2027.

As a speaker, David works with schools, universities, churches, communities, companies, and families across the country. He speaks with candor, warmth, and humor about mental health, addiction, resilience, family relationships, and the difficult work of rebuilding a life. His message resonates because it is grounded in lived experience—and because it moves beyond struggle toward what becomes possible through honesty, connection, faith, and change.

David helped create the William Magee Center for AOD and Wellness Education and the William Magee Institute for Student Wellbeing at the University of Mississippi, named for his late son William, who died from an accidental drug overdose.

He is also the founder of The Magee Foundation, a Mississippi-based public charity helping students, families, and communities flourish through storytelling, education, research, and community engagement focused on addiction abatement, mental health, recovery, and wellbeing.

He also leads The David Magee Co., a storytelling and impact company developing books, films, unscripted television, educational programs, speaking initiatives, and other work designed to move stories beyond inspiration and into lasting change.

Before dedicating his career to wellbeing and recovery, David was a daily newspaper publisher, media company president, small-business owner, and award-winning columnist whose work appeared in Newsweek and daily newspapers. He was a regular guest on CNBC and hosted The David Magee Show, a nationally distributed cable television and radio program.

David is the author of more than a dozen books. His earlier work includes How Toyota Became #1, published by Penguin and named one of the year’s Top 10 Business Books by the American Library Association; The Education of Mr. Mayfield, a 2009 Best Book of the South; The John Deere Way; and Playing to Win: Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys.

He has also appeared as a featured expert in multiple History Channel episodes, exploring American stories ranging from the invention of charcoal and the rise of backyard barbecue to the surprising history of rental cars.

David and his wife, Kent, live in Oxford, Mississippi. They have six grandchildren.

(David's film and television work is credited as David D. Magee.)