Mel B. specialized in recovery writing, timely business topics, speeches, publicity and military history. Before he passed away in 2017, he served in public relations for a major corporation headquartered in Toledo, OH until he retired in 1986.

Mel B. was a recovering alcoholic and a longtime member of Alcoholics Anonymous. He wrote anonymously on subjects related to alcoholism and was a contributing writer for Pass It On, AA's authorized biography of co-founder Bill Wilson. In addition to Ebby: The Man Who Sponsored Bill W., he authored two other Hazelden books, New Wine and Walk In Dry Places, as well as several Hazelden pamphlets. He also contributed about fifty articles to The Grapevine, the international journal of AA.