“Faith Over Strength”
Perrin Cothran Conrad is the widow of Chip Conrad, a retiree from the Charleston Fire Department, who took his own life in April of 2024. Perrin will tell her story about living alongside Chip through his PTSD following the Sofa Superstore Fire, his drug addiction in the years after his disability retirement, and ultimately the last days of his life up to his suicide. She hopes to shed light on how the changes in Chip and his personal choices about his health brought about his suicide, and how she and their son have picked up the pieces to go forward with life since then.
Perrin holds a B.A. in English Literature and Creative Writing from Agnes Scott College and a J.D. from Campbell University. She is a self-published author, and since leaving the practice of law when her son was born, she has also built a career in the travel industry.