On August 29, 2026, exactly 21 years after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi Gulf Coast, longtime publisher, radio host, and Mississippi Coast native Ricky Mathews will release his new book Finding Hope: 25 Lifelines for Life’s Storms.
“I wrote this as the book I wish someone had handed me when life felt overwhelming,” Mathews said. “This book is for anyone walking through a storm, or for the person who wants to help someone who is. The goal is simple: put hope in people’s hands.”
Mathews draws from surviving Katrina with his family in their Biloxi Back Bay home, battling undiagnosed dyslexia as a child, serving as a young paramedic, and years of leading media companies and volunteer recovery efforts. He shares the stories of people who refused to stay broken, including suicide-attempt survivor Emma Benoit, burn survivor and conservationist Ramsey Russell, community leader John Hairston, who lost his daughter and went on to lead after Katrina, and Todd Trenchard, whose addiction led to 40 failed treatments before he found lasting sobriety and a mission to never give up on anyone.
“Hope isn’t just found. It’s fought for,” Mathews said. “And then it’s meant to be passed forward.”
The book offers 25 practical lifelines for navigating life’s hardest challenges. These are tools for holding on, finding purpose in pain, leading with scars, and passing hope forward. The lessons apply far beyond Mississippi.
“There is a message in this book for every community leader in the country,” he said. “The worst thing that ever happened to you can become the very thing that helps someone else.”
Every copy includes a Pass Hope Forward page so readers can write a short note and place the book in the hands of someone who needs it. A free Group Discussion Guide is available for churches, schools, nonprofits, and small groups at RickyMathews.com (launching soon). Bulk discounts are available for churches, schools, and nonprofits.
A portion of proceeds will support Hope Squad, a peer-led suicide prevention program in schools, and Palmer Home for Children.
Mathews is the former President and Publisher of The Sun Herald, The Press-Register, and The Times-Picayune. He currently hosts The Ricky Mathews Show and SuperTalk Outdoors on SuperTalk Mississippi.
Finding Hope: 25 Lifelines for Life’s Storms will be available August 29 in paperback, hardcover, and ebook on Amazon and in independent bookstores.