Words matter . . . they live in our hearts and in our minds until we give them the strength to speak for us. Give them the power they were created to have. They deserve to be heard, and so do you. - Ted A Richard The 16th Second is the autobiography of a small-town gay boy from Deep South Louisiana who survived homophobia, alcohol and drug addiction, sexual abuse, rape, and HIV/AIDS to become somebody that no one, not even he, expected. The story winds through his childhood, where Ted had become accustomed to coming in second. Weaving a tale of drama, heartache, and failure to the path led him to figure out what it takes to come in first and why it mattered. His childhood recollection of "never being good enough" morphs into a world of delusions of grandeur as his search for fame seems never to materialize, which causes him to create his own definition of fame. It is a story of redemption and success after years of searching helped him realize that he had to let go of the fame of the past (which never existed) and begin living in the present in order to secure his future.