Legacy Issue

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22 I NonprofitProfessionalPerformanceMagazine
Sometimes legacy is sparked from bitter tragedy.
In moments of suffering and trial, lessons can be
learned that shape a lifetime and a legacy. The focus
of this special edition is legacy: it is fitting that we
feature a conversation with someone deeply touched
by the legacy of The King, Elvis Presley.
David Stanley is the stepbrother of Elvis and
spent many years at home and on the road with
him. I, Hugh Ballou, Co-Publisher of Nonprofit
Performance Magazine, spoke to David about
his initiative to prevent deaths like Elvis’ from
drug abuse. While David obviously has a deep
admiration for his brother, it was the challenge of
watching the downward spiral that Elvis endured
that shaped his journey to impact others.
Nonprofit Performance Magazine:
I interviewed you in 2007 for my book
Transforming Power, about your leadership skills
and putting together a movie team. Your themes
have been around your brother Elvis. Give us a
little background on yourself, your relationship
with Elvis, and why this vision is so important
to you and to others.
David Stanley: I am excited about the new My
Brother Elvis Foundation, which is a charity
designed to educate and support the fight
against drug abuse. I spent seventeen years with
Elvis Presley, beginning in 1960 when I was
four, when my mother divorced my father and
married Vernon Presley, Elvis’s father. I became
Elvis’s stepbrother and lived in Graceland. Elvis
was a wonderful human being. He took me into
his family. He really raised me. He was my father
figure, my mentor, the person I looked up to.
In 1972, I went to work for Elvis as his personal
bodyguard, being part of his entourage and trav-
eling with him everywhere. When I toured with
Elvis, I saw a chink in the armor: Elvis had a
drug problem. He started off taking a couple of
pills to help him sleep. That number increased
gradually until, by the late ‘70s, Elvis had a very
serious drug addiction problem. Unfortunately,
we lost him to a drug overdose on August 16,
1977. I was there and discovered his lifeless body.
I wrote a book to tell the story about Elvis’s
tragedy. It’s called My Brother Elvis: The Final
Years, and it’s about the final five years of my
life with Elvis on the road. The importance
of this book and the Foundation is that we
can find hope even in the midst of tragedy.
Elvis was such a giver. He was always giving his
time and money to charities. He kept writing
checks to different charities throughout the
world. That was his ultimate gift. I was brought
up this way. But I saw the tragedies of what
drugs can do, and now I am telling his story.
Elvis’s death does not have to be in vain. Sure,
it was a tragedy. But I want to communicate that
what happened to Elvis can happen to anyone.
So I wrote the book and, as a result of writing
the book and desiring to increase the impact,
the My Brother Elvis Foundation was formed.
Transforming Tragedy
Lessons fromThe King
DAViD STANLEy