Remember Joe Eszterhas?

In the 1980s, he gained considerable notoriety for penning Hollywood pulp that included “Flashdance,” “Betrayed,” “Sliver,” “Basic Instinct,” and “Showgirls” (which won the Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay.)

He battled throat cancer a few years back — and it seems to have transformed him. This comes from the Cleveland Plain Dealer:

Local author and screenwriter Joe Eszterhas will carry the cross Sunday at the Mass at The Fest. The annual Catholic youth festival features contemporary Christian music, food, family activities and worship.

“It’s a real honor,” said Eszterhas, whose book “Crossbearer: A Memoir of Faith” will be published in October by St. Martin’s Press.

The Fest begins at noon on Sunday, Aug. 3, at the Center for Pastoral Leadership, 28700 Euclid Ave., Wickliffe. More than 20,000 people are expected to listen to artists including Brooke Barrettsmith, Nevertheless, Stellar Kart, Matt Maher and headliner Jeremy Camp, who will take the stage at 6:30 p.m.

The Mass will take place at 8 p.m., followed by fireworks.

Eszterhas, a member of Holy Angels Catholic Church in Bainbridge Township, said carrying the cross “is a transcendental experience.” His book is an account of his rediscovered faith after his battle with throat cancer.

“I’ve given the book to a couple of priests for fact checking,” Eszterhas said. “They like it.”

You can read more about his new book right here. As Amazon describes it:

“Crossbearer” is the powerful, poignant, and sometimes wryly humorous account of a streetwise and cynical man’s newfound faith, and of how he discovers God in the most intimate and routine moments of life: a family game of baseball, a child’s photograph of a cloud, a dying mother’s dying roses. It is also the inspiring story of a man who must overcome his addictions to stay alive—and can’t by himself. He realizes that he needs the love of his wife, his children, and especially his new friend, God, to do it.