Staff Picks: To Know & Be a Father
by lucroe
Celebrate all of the paternal figures in your life with these powerful memoirs about fatherhood and relationships with fathers.
The Beautiful Struggle: a Father, two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood by Ta-Nehisi Coates | Request Now
An intense and eloquent personal journey by National Book award winner Coates about his younger years growing up in Baltimore in the 1980s. Although his father Paul Coates believed in tough love for Coates and his half-brother he also instilled self-respect and to have pride in Black culture. His guiding principle was simple: 'I'm not here to be your friend. My job is to get you through. To make you conscious of the world around you. To teach lessons that can carry over.' His father was a member of the Black Panthers but could not get past the internal political struggles and eventually left. He ran a successful small publishing company that still exists called Black Classic Press out of his basement dedicated to African American authors including Walter Mosley. This is where Coates’ love for books began. Coates’ home life was unconventional, his father raised seven children with four different mothers which Coates’ considered all family. An honest and unflinching look at growing up with an authoritarian father who never gave up on teaching his children respect for themselves and their heritage.
Braving It: a Father, a Daughter, and an Unforgettable Journey Into the Alaskan Wild by James Campbell | Request Now
Author Campbell decides to take his 15-year old daughter, Aidan on an Alaskan adventure to visit his cousin & his wife who are some of the only permanent residents of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The river near his cousin’s cabin was changing course and his cabin was at risk, so he needed to build a new cabin in a safer location. Campbell talked to Aidan and they decided to go to Alaska to help build his new cabin. Difficult at first but exhilarating and beautiful, they decide to return the following year. This time they would spend the winter in the new cabin. They would get to experience the lifestyle of a homesteading family living mostly off the land through the deep winter. They would learn to depend on one another and learn both the joys and sorrows of living so close to nature. On a third adventure, they do a hiking and rafting trip in a remote area with friends. Once again, there are challenges to overcome for father and daughter that tests their bond. A beautiful rendering of the Alaskan wilderness that reads as much a travelogue as a testament to this loving father-daughter relationship.
My Father's Brain: Life in the Shadow of Alzheimer's by Sandeep Jauhar | Request Now
A deeply moving story of the relationship between Jauhar and his 76-year old father, Prem Jauhar, a well-respected geneticist. Sandeep Jauhar is a cardiologist who guides the reader through a journey that results in a better understanding of how the brain works. This search for knowledge is also guided by his love for his father who is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Along with his sister and brother, both doctors as well, difficult decisions have to be made on his care and advanced directives. This is not just a book about Alzheimer’s but also about our healthcare system, about caregivers’ needs, and about alternatives to the American health care system such as the Netherlands’ The Hogeweyk Dementia Village. From diagnosis and understanding the disease, to downsizing his parent’s home, to finding comfort in being able to find home care for his father (a family friend moves in until he needs hospice care), this is a story that many can relate to or read to better understand the impact of this disease.
Gay Like Me: a Father Writes to His Son by Richie Jackson | Request Now
Jackson writes this book as a letter to his gay son. The book is divided into a number of short chapters, some of them almost meditations. Many of the titles are suggestive: “Visibility Is Not a Cure-All,” “Find and Ignite Your Anger,” “Buttress Yourself with Gay History,” and “It’s Still a Straight Man’s World.” Reflecting on his life experiences as both a father and a gay man, Jackson has produced a heartfelt piece to his son and to other gay parents as well.
All That You Leave Behind: a Memoir by Erin Lee Carr | Request Now
Shattered by the death of her journalist father, Erin Lee Carr, accomplished filmmaker, (best known for her HBO documentaries Mommy Dead and Dearest and Thought Crimes) began combing through the entirety of their shared correspondence—1,936 items in total. What started as an exercise in grief quickly grew into an active investigation: Did her father's writings contain the answers to the questions of how to move forward in life and work without your biggest champion by your side?
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