Baldwin reveals alcohol epiphany

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Actor Alec Baldwin says in a new book that he once had a moment of clarity regarding his alcohol abuse while driving on a freeway in Santa Monica, Calif.

The "30 Rock" star writes in "Moments of Clarity," actor Christopher Kennedy Lawford's compilation of real-life stories of addiction, that he noticed he had an alcohol problem while taking a drive in 1983, the New York Post said Sunday.

"I'm driving down the road, I'm having a drink," Baldwin wrote. "It's 4 o'clock; I'm supposed to have a drink. But one day I went, 'I don't see anybody else in their car with a plastic takeout container filled with ice and wine.'"

Baldwin details other moments of clarity such as receiving a knowing stare from a girlfriend's grandfather or concerned comments from the operator of an arcade where he liked to relax.

The 50-year-old actor also writes about how at the age of 26, he finally took steps toward overcoming his addiction, the Post reported.

"God got me sober. That day, God was a black, 65-year-old retired postal worker named Lenny," Baldwin writes in Lawford's book. "Lenny said, "You never have to feel this way again if you don't want to.'"