Host Marcia Franklin interviews Pete Earley, a former Washington Post reporter who has also become a mental health advocate. Earley, who has penned numerous "true crime" books, found one of his most difficult books to write to be Crazy. The book is a memoir about his son, who has a mental illness.

Crazy, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 2007, describes Earley's harrowing attempts to get help for his son, as well as major problems in mental health systems around the country.

Franklin and Earley discuss why he wanted to write the book, how he researched it, and what he views as solutions for the current gaps in mental health policy in America.

Earley was in Boise to speak to the Idaho chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI).

Originally aired: 10/10/2014