Donald Fryar is known to many in his community as a deacon and the founder of True Insight Inc and to his immediate family as a brother, father and grandfather. In his book “From Loss to Gain: An Inspiration,” he provides a glimpse into his life, his struggles and his overall message to those who may need support in their own time of need.

The inspiration to write a book, Fryar said, came from his friend Cassandra Edwards, who runs a nonprofit of her own called Advocating for Change. Legally blind since 2016, Fryar said he had to find a different way to write his book. Instead of writing, he would say what he had to say using a tape recorder. The book was written over the course of 2018, finally finished in 2019 and then officially published in 2020 through Xlibris Publishing. It is available on Amazon.

The personal account captures the early years of Fryar, who was born in the City of Newburgh to Martha Fryar and Mac Thompson on December 2, 1959 at St. Luke’s Hospital. His parents would eventually separate but Fryar’s father continued to be present in his life.
Fryar shares his early appreciation of reading, Black History, other cultures, music and going to the local YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association) with his uncle William Richardson Sr. He was also a Sunday school student of Sadie Tallie, an influential activist and longtime Newburgh resident. “I was very in touch with my youth and I had a good childhood,” he said.

The book then takes on a more serious tone with Fryar’s teenage years of partying, alcohol and drugs. He continued on this path before he finally got the necessary help and graduated from high school in 1978. He had the opportunity to attend West Point Military Academy and graduate as an officer but decided to attend Orange County Community College instead. Old habits, however, came back, and so he left school and went to work.

He further shares about his continued habits slowing down. Eventually he met Maryann Mays, who already had children of her own. The couple would eventually welcome Shablee Mays and Anthony Mays into the family and Fryar began working more and more to provide for his family and children.

Fryar turned things around in his life and became involved in the community for a time. However, things took a turn when he went back to old habits. He began stealing which led to his arrest. He intended to lie to avoid jail time, he said, but because of his faith upbringing, he told the truth about what happened. He thus served out his prison sentence and while incarcerated, he found the tools necessary to stay clean.

When he came back to Newburgh, the same substances that he had worked to get away from were still present. Staying clean and staying faithful to God, Fryar found work in the Newburgh Enlarged City School District as a janitor and worked at Newburgh Free Academy and several other schools in the district. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia and worked a series of jobs to support himself. He eventually returned to New York to care for his children, spent time with his father and mother and found work with Project M.O.R.E., a program assisting ex-offenders to help them transition back into the community.

With all that Fryar has experienced in his life, from his addiction to incarceration to eventual recovery, he hopes that his book will serve as an inspiration to others to overcome struggle. “The book itself is a tool to let people know that they’re not alone and they can identify with what I went through. The book is about challenges, perseverance and overcoming,” said Fryar. “Anytime that there’s a challenge before you it forces you to look at ways to resolve it, how to overcome the situation.”

With more plans and work to be done with True Insight in 2024, Fryar anticipates writing another work which will be more focused on the topics of humanity, society and even discussing the COVID-19 pandemic. He continues to maintain close relationships to the Mount Carmel Church of Christ Disciples of Christ community, Glory2God Ministries and the Baptist Temple community.

“What I like to tell people who don’t know me, about myself is that I see myself as an upright man of God. I see myself as a humble individual, who cares about people and the spirit of humanity,” he said. “I’m about the cohesiveness of the people as a whole, cause we’re all living in the city together.”