Thomas Lawrence Fricks

Larry Fricks, a visionary leader driven by his own life experiences in a broken mental health system, left an indelible mark on the landscape of behavioral health and peer support that impacted the lives of those who knew him and thousands who never did.

Larry died on Aug. 3, 2025, at age 75 from complications related to pneumonia, leaving a legacy that lives on in countless individuals, families, and communities whose lives he touched, and in the continued growth of peer support and recovery initiatives that he so passionately championed across the country.

"When I help someone else in recovery, it strengthens my own recovery," said Larry in 2003 remarks at the 19th Annual Rosalynn Carter Symposium on Mental Health Policy. "It gives meaning to my life. It gives meaning to my experiences. It gives meaning to the hopelessness I once felt."

For more than 30 years, Larry was at the forefront of private and governmental mental health initiatives and was especially influential in the recognition of the value of peer support as an essential component of treatment.

Born June 13, 1950, in Vidalia, GA, Larry spent 40 years sober, working on his recovery with mental health and substance use challenges and the inevitable physical ailments brought on by both. A central mission throughout his life was to challenge public misconceptions about mental illness and illuminate the essential connection between mental and physical health, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, complications from smoking, and the effects of psychiatric medications. His advocacy extended well beyond awareness, focusing on practical solutions that placed individuals at the heart of their own recovery.

Through extraordinary partnerships with passionate and talented advocates, Larry leaves the legacy of peer support as a formalized healthcare service that includes more than 100,000 U.S. certified peer specialists in the behavioral health workforce in 49 states who harness their own lived experiences to help others thrive. Those certifications now span mental health and substance use/misuse support. Through the adoption of peer support across the U.S., lives are forever improved by Larry's work.

A 1968 graduate from Atlanta's Westminster Schools, Larry advocated a people-first approach in all his work. In his 2013 testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions he shared his first-hand knowledge of how those who are in recovery can be helpful to those still struggling.

"I would like to say that nearly three decades of experience in behavioral health has taught me that the greatest potential for promoting recovery and whole health comes from within an individual, with the support of peers, family, and community. My recommendation is to establish and support programs that drive this potential, putting the person at the center of all services, building on their strengths and supports."

Larry's early career included journalism. A 1972 graduate of the University of Georgia Grady School of Journalism, he became a prize-winning staff writer and columnist at The Gainesville Times and the Telegraph in the mountain community of Cleveland, GA.

By 1993, however, he realized that his recovery from mental illness and substance use/misuse was linked to helping others create their own path to recovery. That realization led to a decades-long career focused on improving mental health services.

As a cofounder of the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network (GMHCN) Larry helped establish an organization dedicated to consumer-driven mental health services. Its mission: to empower participants to direct their own recovery and advocacy while teaching and supporting one another.

Larry's success with GMHCN led to his position from 1993 to 2006 as Director of the Office of Consumer Relations and Recovery at the Georgia Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Addictive Diseases (now the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities). In his role, Georgia partnered with the GMHCN, which resulted in the nation's first Medicaid-billable peer support services. As a cofounder of this network, he led the creation of the Certified Peer Specialist (CPS) training and certification program.

He also created a program with GMHCN known as the Health and Recovery Peer program (HARP), which was featured in the Schizophrenia Research Journal. That program served as the foundation for the Whole Health Action Management training (WHAM) through the National Council on Mental Wellbeing -- a peer support training program used across the country to help individuals set health goals.

In response to growing interest in peer support training nationwide, Larry established Appalachian Consulting Group (ACG), a national entity that focuses on preparing the peer specialist workforce, which, under his leadership, the group taught peer support competencies and WHAM in states across the country and internationally, including the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.

In 2013, Larry served as deputy director of the Center for Integrated Health Solutions for the National Council on Mental Wellbeing. His expertise and passion influenced policy and practice at both the state and national levels.

Larry was one of the primary subjects of Richard M. Cohen's New York Times bestselling book "Strong at the Broken Places" in which he is quoted as saying "I'm not just surviving - I'm contributing. That's the difference recovery makes." This book led to an appearance on The Today Show in 2008 affording him more opportunity to debunk stigma and promote recovery.

In a letter from former First Lady Rosalyn Carter, one of many high-level leaders to acknowledge Larry's decades of service in the mental health field, she wrote to Larry, "Your willingness to speak candidly about your struggles and successes dealing with your illness is so helpful in fighting the stigma that continues to surround the diseases of the brain. I admire your strength and courage."

Larry is survived by his wife of 31 years Grace Allie Covington Fricks of Cleveland, GA; brother William Donovan Montgomery and his wife Sarah (Sally ) McCrary Montgomery of Atlanta; nephews William (Will) D. Montgomery of Iiyama, Nagano Prefecture, Japan; George Benjamin (Ben) Montgomery of Atlanta, and Samuel (Sam) Bryan Montgomery of Atlanta; and lifelong friend and business partner Glen Parmelee Robinson III of Atlanta. Larry is preceded in death by his parents, U.S. Navy Commander Benjamin Fricks and Helen Conner Fricks of Atlanta; and brother Stephen Conner Fricks of Atlanta.

A celebration of Larry's life will be held on Monday, Nov. 3, at The Carter Center, Cecil B. Day Chapel, 453 John Lewis Freedom Pkwy NE, Atlanta, GA. Gathering will be from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m., celebration program at 1 p.m. and reception to follow.

Memorial donations may be sent to Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network www.gmhcn.org.