WEST PARIS – An advertisement in the Friday edition of the Sun Journal, on page A10, begins, “Lord, fill my mouth with worthwhile stuff and nudge me when I’ve said enough.”

Kenneth P. Connell, who calls himself the “Crazy Indian,” paid for the newspaper advertisement to ask forgiveness from the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department, the Oxford County Jail, the Maine State Police, the Maine Game Wardens, Oxford County Dispatch, the Oxford County courts and the Oxford County District Attorney’s Office.

The 45-year-old West Paris man with long, gray hair said he stopped drinking after a hard session of boozing on Sept. 16 that sent him to the hospital.

“They hauled me out of here in an ambulance,” Connell said, at his home Friday morning. “I’ve been drinking a half gallon a day for I don’t know how many years.”

For the 13 days, he’s been dry, Connell said he’s attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and seen a counselor. He is adamant when he says he will never return to the bottle.

Chief Deputy Chris Wainwright of the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office said he read the advertisement Friday and was pleased to hear Connell was on the right track.

“I think everyone knows him,” Wainwright said. “He’s had a long history with law enforcement.”

Starting back in the 1980s, Connell has been arrested for operating under the influence, disorderly conduct, criminal trespassing, criminal threatening and other alcohol-related offenses, Wainwright said.

“Anytime a person can get a handle on a problem like that,” Wainwright said, “I think it is admirable. I think everyone certainly wishes him the best of luck there.”

Connell said he grew up in Paris and had his first drink when he was 4 years old. Both his parents were alcoholics, he said.

But now he wants to ensure no one else suffers what he has experienced. “I don’t want anyone to go through the pain I’ve been through,” he said.

As for the “Crazy Indian” moniker, Connell explained that he’s an Indian and that he’s crazy. He figures he is three-fourths American Indian – his mother was half Cherokee and his father was three-fourths Narragansett.

In his advertisement he writes: “Alcoholism is a long, slow, and very expensive way to a very painful death, so please do not drink.”

A few lines later, he writes, “To all of you that have helped me, I am very thankful. To everyone else, I am very concerned that you take good care of your health.”

At his home during an interview, he looked up at the cobwebs dangling from his ceiling. “I’m going to take my cobwebs down. I’ve never let anyone touch them. I’ve loved them. I’m ready for a new life.”