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Columnist Recounts Arrest, Battle With Alcoholism

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A leading Chicago Sun-Times columnist on Monday described his battle with alcoholism that led to his recent arrest for domestic battery, writing that so far he is winning the fight to stay sober.

A Cook County judge last week dropped domestic battery charges against Neil Steinberg after prosecutors said he had complied with a court order to attend an alcohol treatment program.

Writing in Monday editions of the Sun-Times, the 45-year-old recounted how he slapped his wife, Edie, in September at their Northbrook home during an argument, and while he was drunk.

"She called the cops, they came, clapped me into handcuffs and hauled me off to jail," he wrote. "When I asked her later why she had to have me arrested, she said, `Nobody hits me, buddy."'

He spent 14 hours in a Northbrook jail. When a judge said he could either enter a rehab program inside Cook County Jail or somewhere else outside, "I eagerly opted for the latter," he wrote.

Steinberg, who returned to work Monday after two months of medical leave, wrote that he understood his struggle with alcoholism would be a grueling one.

"The relapse rate -- those who go back to drinking -- is something like 90 percent and often it seems the giddiest optimism to suggest that I won't be among them," he wrote. "But so far, so good."

At the Nov. 23 court hearing, Steinberg's wife testified that she wanted the case and an order of protection against her husband dropped, saying she no longer feared for her safety.

Steinberg wrote in the Sun-Times that his relationship with his wife of 23 years is on the mend.

"I could fill this space with apologies, but that's our business and not yours," he wrote. "Not everything belongs in the newspaper."

In a telephone interview, Steinberg said it was his decision to write Monday's column and not a demand of the Sun-Times.

He also said he hoped the matter was behind him.

"I certainly don't plan to get myself in jail again," he said. "I will do everything I can not to betray the support of the paper."

Steinberg said the Sun-Times dropped him in recent weeks from the newspaper's editorial board, where he had served for four years. But he said he did not consider the move a disciplinary action in response to his arrest.

CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery sat down with Steinberg Monday upon his return to the Chicago Sun-Times. The newspaper columnist spoke frankly about his arrest for domestic battery, hitting the bottle and hitting rock bottom.

Steinberg: "I was surprised at how much of an alcoholic I was, how dependent I was. Because I went three days of detox."

Flannery: "Tell me about that."

Steinberg: "You're sweating, trembling. I think it went on for about a month, really, before I felt myself again."

Flannery: "What did you tell the kids?"

Steinberg: "Um, well, one of the kids was up and saw it. You know, I uh, I hit your mom and she sent me to jail. She did the right thing. I just want you to know that your mother did the right thing."

Flannery: "Tell me what happened that night. How did you get the point where you struck your wife?"

Steinberg: "I had a drink in the morning just to sort of settle my nerves. Then I went to Gene and Georgetti's for lunch and had a festive lunch with an old friend. It was 10 o'clock at night, I was going to bed. And my wife basically said, 'You're not going in this bed.' She was basically tired of living with a guy who was drinking all the time…Then an argument ensued. I work really hard and I've succeeded and I earn a good living. You're in this house. You do your thing. And this is what I do. Drinking is my reward…Three weeks before I wrote about how wonderful our relationship is and the next thing I know, I'm in court.

"I think other guys in my situation would have, you know, called the divorce lawyer from the basement of their brother and gone about their business and said, 'Screw you, honey. I'm not going to submit myself to this.' Believe me, Mike, I thought about that. But that didn't seem the high road. I have what I consider a healthy terror that this isn't going to last. To me, alcoholism is like a virus."

Steinberg said he has not had one drop of alcohol since the night he was arrested. On his first day back at the Sun-Times, he said he went to lunch at an old watering hole. He said he had iced tea and "it was fine."

(© 2005 CBS Worldwide Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)