Cover of Nothing Left to Hold Onto: One Man's Collapse into Nobody, a memoir by Howard Rizio

A Memoir · Coming 2027

Nothing Left to Hold Onto

One Man's Collapse into Nobody

A former narcotics detective arrested for selling drugs by his own former unit. A corrections officer who became an inmate. A successful real estate broker who gave away his possessions to live in a tent and eventually hiked the Appalachian Trail with no experience and no plan.

How does one man end up at opposite extremes of the very same life?

Nothing Left to Hold Onto is a memoir about a man who spent much of his life trying to become somebody, until the life he had built collapsed and he began questioning everything he thought he knew about himself.

What followed was an investigation into his own life: not only what brought him to his knees, but what had carried him to the heights he once celebrated. Along the way, even the things that seemed to offer answers began raising new questions.

At its heart, the book uses one man's life to explore what shapes us, what drives us, and how much of what we believe about ourselves is actually true.

The events belong to him. The questions belong to us all.

Being written now · 30 chapters drafted

Follow the Book
This is a light, not a set of instructions. I can only show you where I was standing when the veil moved, and trust you to notice your own. Howard Rizio

Writing in Public

Where the book is now

I'm writing this one in the open. Here's the road from here to your hands.

Howard Rizio near Katahdin, Maine

About the Author

Howard Rizio

Howard Rizio is a former U.S. Marine, corrections sergeant, sheriff's deputy, DEA task force narcotics detective, and real estate broker. After his arrest and recovery, he spent years helping others find their way out of addiction, including as a mentor in a veterans treatment court.

In 2024 he thru-hiked the Appalachian Trail as "Wingit," then spent eight months living out of his truck as a trail angel, supporting long-distance hikers.

Through Awakened Ave, he shares what he's learned from looking honestly at his own life, without telling anyone how to live theirs. You can find him on YouTube (@AwakenedAve), Facebook, and at AwakenedAve.com.

Nothing Left to Hold Onto is his first book.

Howard is available for podcasts, interviews, and speaking, especially with groups serving veterans, recovery, law enforcement, and hiking communities.

Invite Howard More about Howard