Make Sure the Good Times Were Good Enough to Make the Bad Times Worth Living Through Paperback – February 27, 2026

Make Sure the Good Times Were Good Enough to Make the Bad Times Worth Living ThroughBy James Russell Lofgren“If you are holding this book, it means I finally did the thing I said I would do.”James Russell Lofgren lived between two stories — the one the world could see, and the one he carried quietly inside.In this posthumously published collection of poetry and artwork, James speaks in his own voice — unfiltered, searching, spiritually awake, and fiercely honest. Written over the final years of his life, these poems wrestle with addiction, mortality, mental health, incarceration, joy, impermanence, and the thin veil between life and whatever waits beyond it.James does not romanticize struggle. He names it.“Addiction is not poetry. It is hunger without a name.”And yet, through that hunger, he found language. In these pages, he becomes philosopher, comedian, cosmic traveler, street poet, wounded healer, and relentless truth-teller. His writing is spare, rhythmic, and disarmingly direct — often only a handful of lines — but each poem carries the weight of someone who lived close to the edge and came back more than once.He writes about breath as if he knew it was borrowed.About time as if it were slipping through his hands.About death not as an enemy, but as a doorway.Throughout the collection, light and shadow coexist. There is humor alongside despair. Social commentary alongside deeply personal confession. Rage, wonder, faith, absurdity, hope. He challenges the prison system. He questions ego. He mocks himself. He urges us toward joy.“You are more than the worst chapter of your life.”Interwoven with his original artwork — bold, geometric, layered, and cosmic — this book becomes more than a poetry collection. It is an inner landscape. A record of a mind that thought expansively and a soul that felt deeply.James died on February 11, 2026, at 39 years old. In his introduction, he writes:“I was not weak.I was wounded.I was not empty.I was searching.”This book is not just a memorial. It is a fulfillment. A promise kept. A voice that refused to disappear.For anyone who has struggled.For anyone who has loved someone who struggled.For anyone who has questioned what lies beyond the visible.For anyone who needs the reminder:“Make sure the good times weregood enoughto make the bad times worth living through.”Behind the stars, there is the rest.And in these pages, James shows us the way.www.behindthestars.org Read more