PORTLAND, Ore. — As the sun rises each morning, droves of groggy Portlanders awaken to a voice they've been tuning in to for nearly two decades. It belongs to Greg Glover, a radio DJ for 94.7 KNRK, an alternative-indie rock station.
"It's Foo Fighters on 94.7 FM!" exclaimed Glover into the microphone, with more energy than seems possible that early in the morning.
"Greg and Biscuit here, getting you going on your early Tuesday!" he shouts.
Biscuit is Glover's dog, a tiny Chihuahua mix who's always by his side.
"Listeners know him more than they know me," Glover said with a chuckle.
Glover has loved music for as long as he can remember. The 3,000 records in his personal collection are a nod to that fact, and to his mom in Glover's home state of Alabama.
"I was raised on whatever was on the radio and my mom listened to," said Glover, flipping through his alphabetized collection of vinyl. "Gotta have all the Steely Dan, gotta have all The Replacements."
At around noon, Glover's morning show is done and he heads to Prost!, a local pub on North Mississippi Avenue.
"This is my routine, this is my corner office where I spend a lot of time," said Glover, pointing to a table at the bar.
There's a plaque on the table that actually has Glover's name on it.
"I don't know if I'm proud of that or embarrassed by it," Glover said with a laugh.
Before he sits down, Glover pops next door to Blood Buzz for an iced coffee.
"These people see me every day," said Glover. "They even made me this mug!"
The inscription on the mug says, "Don't act brand new."
"Words to live by," said Glover, tapping the mug. "Back in Alabama I once saw a mom with her kids at a store. They were pulling things of the shelves, she was just trying to hold it all together and she was like, 'Get over here! Don't you act brand new!!' And I was like, I love that. It's kinda become my motto."
The barista at Blood Buzz handed Glover his iced coffee and sent him off.
"Don't act brand new!" she said.
Coffee in hand, Glover headed back to Prost!, where he sat down with two of his best friends, Skip Werner and Lori Blumenthal.
"Hey Buddy!" they exclaimed as they began catching up.
Not much has changed over the past 15 years, except for one very significant detail: the drink in Glover's hand. Instead of iced coffee it used to be liquor. A lot of it.
"I'd come in here with my laptop, have a couple drinks — two, three, four drinks," said Glover. "Then I'd go home and have two, three, four drinks. That was just routine. It wasn't 'til later that I realized that that's not normal."
Blumenthal listened, nodding her head.
"It felt like he had dug himself into a big hole," said Blumenthal. "And he didn't know how to climb out."
Glover agreed, feeling both reluctant and anxious to share that part of his life.
"You know, I've never been comfortable talking about this," he said. "Three years ago today, I sat here and took my last drink of alcohol ... I quit cold turkey."
Lost job, lost life, lost way
Glover will be the first to tell you that his path to sobriety was not typical.
Then again, the events that led to Glover's decision were also not typical. Glover lost his dream job and cheated death in the same month. It happened during the fall of 2020, beginning when the company that owns 94.7 did some restructuring.
"I was part of some layoffs," shared Glover.
About three weeks after Glover went off the air, he got up to walk Biscuit, but never made it out the door.
"I got really light-headed," said Glover.
The last thing he remembered was yelling out for his wife, Alana, for help.
"She came downstairs and I was laying on the floor," he said. "I was on my back, my ice coffee spilled everywhere, Biscuit shivering next to me."
When paramedics arrived, Glover's heart rate was 13 beats per minute. They rushed him to the hospital. There, Glover said, moments from his life began flashing through his mind quickly, like a Rolodex.
"It was kissing a girl for the first time, or hitting my one and only homerun in high school or seeing U2 for the first time," said Glover. "And then everything went black."
Doctors performed chest compressions to save Glover's life.
"The next thing I remember is waking up and saying, 'What just happened?' Then the doctor said, 'We lost you. But we got you.'"
Glover went into emergency surgery and doctors put a pacemaker in his heart. Later, they noted something else about his health.
"They said when you came in, your liver levels were a little high, but when you left two days later, they were fine!" said Glover.
Most people might assume that the near-death experience was what led Glover to stop drinking. But that same week, Glover said he was back in the pub and his drinking only got worse.
"I think I was spiraling," he said.
Glover decided to seek help from a therapist.
"I thought maybe I need to talk to someone other than someone at the end of the bar about what was going on with me," shared Glover. "The fact that I just lost my job and I just lost my life and I'm probably drinking a little more than I should."
But even with therapy, it would take eight more months before Glover got the wakeup call that stuck.
"My wife said something to me, and it embarrassed me," said Glover.
"Yeah, it was getting pretty obvious at that point," said Glover's wife, Alana. "I told him, 'I don't want to be married to an alcoholic.'"
Glover listened.
"I didn't want to let her down and I didn't want to continue to let myself down," he said.
To be brand new
Glover decided to quit drinking for one week. The day it actually happened caught him by surprise.
"I came into Prost! and I was like okay, I'm going to have a couple drinks, read my New York Times and that was my plan for the day," recalled Glover.
But for some reason, Glover's drink hit differently that day.
"I picked it up and took it to the bar and I said to the bartender, 'Patrick, I can't drink this.' And he said, 'I got you.' And he took my drink and I picked up my paper and I walked out the door and that was the longest day of my life."
Glover got through it. With help from his therapist, he set a new goal: three weeks without drinking. This fall marks three years sober.
"His outlook is completely different than it used to be and it shows," said Werner. "I can see it in him, and I'm really proud of him."
"To watch him, he's thriving!" said Blumenthal, hugging Glover. "I think he has what he needs now in a way he didn't have before. to cope."
Glover has something else as well. After a year off the air — his first year sober — Glover got his job back. KNRK went through more restructuring, but this time it meant the return of Glover and Biscuit. Station manager Mark Hamilton remembers.
"People delighted that Greg and Biscuit were back on the air on 94.7," said Hamilton. "It doesn't get much better than that. "
"It was really serendipitous," said Glover. "My life hasn't gotten worse since I left alcohol."
When Glover returned to the airwaves, listeners had no idea what he'd been through. This fall, he finally opened up on Facebook.
"People said, 'Wow, I'm two weeks sober and this inspires me to keep going!'" shared Glover. "Wow. That meant a lot."
Glover is clear on this point: his journey to sobriety is his alone. He noted others might take a different path. Glover is grateful for the support he has received from his friends — including Dan Hart. who owns Prost!
"We'll always have our coffee dates," said Hart. "It's just great that he still wants to come around, hang out with me and hang out with the rest of his friends. Amazing."
When Glover reflects on what he's been through, he always feels a little emotional.
"I'm super lucky," he said. "I have some good friends."
Glover knows not everything is perfect now.
"Life is still going to have curveballs come my way, I know — my anxiety tells me so!" said Glover. "But no matter what happens, I'm better equipped to deal with those things when they come up than I was three years ago, that's for sure."
Asked if that was Glover acting brand new, he paused.
"Yeah," he chuckled. "In some ways I am."
Maybe acting brand new isn't such a bad thing after all.
This story is part of our series, Pacific Storyland. From the ordinary to the extraordinary, we'll bring you the most heartwarming and inspiring stories from where you live. Know someone you'd like to see featured? Let us know! Email us at pacificstoryland@kgw.com or text your story ideas to 503-226-5088.