Advertisement
About My Father Interview: A Comprehensive Guide to Capturing His Legacy
Author: Dr. Eleanor Vance, Professor of Oral History and Family Studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Vance has over 20 years of experience conducting and analyzing oral history interviews, specializing in family narratives and legacy preservation.
Publisher: Legacy Press, a leading publisher specializing in books and resources on family history, genealogy, and oral history techniques.
Editor: Mr. David Miller, MA in Journalism and experienced editor with over 15 years of experience in publishing non-fiction works.
Keywords: about my father interview, oral history interview, father interview questions, legacy interview, family history interview, recording a father's story, preserving family memories, interviewing techniques, interviewing elders, father-child interview
Abstract: This article provides a detailed guide on conducting a meaningful "about my father interview," exploring various methodologies and approaches to ensure a rich and lasting record of your father's life and experiences. We will delve into planning, conducting, and preserving the interview, offering practical tips and advice for a successful and emotionally rewarding experience.
1. Planning Your "About My Father Interview": Laying the Foundation
The success of your "about my father interview" hinges heavily on thorough planning. Before you even pick up a microphone, consider these crucial steps:
1.1 Defining the Scope: What aspects of your father's life are most important to capture? Do you want to focus on his childhood, career, relationships, or a combination thereof? A clear focus will help structure your questions and keep the interview manageable. Consider creating a timeline of key events in his life to guide your questioning.
1.2 Choosing the Right Setting: The environment significantly impacts the interview’s success. Choose a comfortable, familiar setting where your father feels relaxed and at ease. Minimize distractions and ensure good lighting and acoustics for optimal recording quality. His home is often ideal, a place rich with personal memories and triggers for recall.
1.3 Developing a Question Framework: While spontaneity is valuable, a structured approach is essential. Develop a list of open-ended questions that encourage narrative responses rather than simple "yes" or "no" answers. Begin with broad, biographical questions and then gradually delve into more specific topics. Example questions for an "about my father interview" could include:
"Can you tell me about your childhood and upbringing?"
"What were some of your earliest memories?"
"Describe your education and career path."
"What were some of the significant challenges you faced in your life?"
"What are you most proud of accomplishing?"
"What advice would you give to your children/grandchildren?"
"What are some of your most cherished memories?"
"What are your hopes and dreams for the future?"
1.4 Technical Preparations: Ensure you have all the necessary equipment: a high-quality recording device (digital recorder or smartphone with a good microphone), extra batteries, and sufficient storage space. Test your equipment beforehand to avoid technical glitches during the interview. Consider using two recording devices simultaneously as a backup.
2. Conducting Your "About My Father Interview": The Art of Listening
The "about my father interview" is not simply a question-and-answer session; it's a conversation. Active listening is crucial. Focus on your father's responses, showing genuine interest and empathy. Encourage him to elaborate on his experiences, and avoid interrupting unless necessary for clarification.
2.1 Establishing Rapport: Building trust and rapport with your father is paramount. Begin the interview with light conversation to ease any tension. Remind him that this is a celebration of his life and a valuable legacy for future generations.
2.2 Probing and Following Up: Don't be afraid to gently probe deeper into interesting anecdotes or experiences. Follow up on intriguing points with additional questions to gain a richer understanding. Use prompts like "Tell me more about that," "That's fascinating, can you elaborate?" or "What did that feel like?"
2.3 Handling Sensitive Topics: Some topics might be difficult or emotionally charged. Approach these with sensitivity and respect, allowing your father to share at his own pace. Be prepared to offer support and understanding. If he chooses not to discuss certain aspects of his life, respect his decision.
2.4 The Importance of Nonverbal Cues: Pay attention to your father's nonverbal cues—his body language, facial expressions, and tone of voice. These can provide valuable insights into his emotions and experiences.
3. Preserving Your "About My Father Interview": Safeguarding the Legacy
Once the interview is complete, ensure you properly preserve the recording and its accompanying materials.
3.1 Transcribing the Interview: Transcribing the interview is crucial for easy access and searchability. Consider using transcription services or software. A transcript allows for easy sharing and analysis of the interview's content.
3.2 Organizing and Archiving: Organize the recording and transcript systematically, including dates, names, and relevant details. Store them securely in multiple locations (e.g., cloud storage and physical hard drives) to prevent data loss. Consider creating a digital archive with photographs, documents, and other relevant materials.
3.3 Sharing the Legacy: Consider sharing excerpts from the "about my father interview" with family members. You can create a family history book, a video montage, or a digital presentation. Sharing this valuable resource ensures that your father's story continues to resonate for generations to come.
Conclusion
Conducting an "about my father interview" is a powerful act of preserving family history and strengthening family bonds. By following these guidelines, you can create a lasting legacy that honors your father's life and enriches the lives of future generations. The meticulous planning, thoughtful execution, and diligent preservation of this interview will ensure its value as a cherished family treasure for years to come. Remember, the "about my father interview" is not just about gathering facts; it’s about capturing the essence of a life well lived.
FAQs
1. What if my father is reluctant to be interviewed? Start with casual conversations, emphasizing the positive aspects of the interview. Respect his boundaries and allow him time to feel comfortable.
2. How long should the interview be? Aim for manageable segments, perhaps 1-2 hours per session, with breaks. Multiple shorter sessions are often more effective than one long interview.
3. What if my father struggles with memory? Use prompts, photographs, and memorabilia to aid recall. Be patient and understanding.
4. How can I deal with sensitive or painful topics? Approach with sensitivity and empathy. Allow pauses and breaks if needed. Respect his boundaries.
5. What technology should I use for recording? A high-quality digital recorder is recommended, but a smartphone with a good microphone can also work well. Test your equipment beforehand.
6. How do I edit the interview after recording? Minimal editing should be done, focusing on removing any significant technical glitches. Maintain the integrity of the original interview.
7. How can I share the interview with family? Consider creating a digital archive or a family history book. You could also share excerpts selectively or organize a family viewing.
8. Is it important to get my father’s permission to record and share the interview? Absolutely! Obtaining his informed consent is crucial for ethical and legal reasons. Have him sign a simple consent form outlining how the recording will be used.
9. What if my father passes away before the interview? While an interview is ideal, consider gathering information from other family members, photographs, letters, and other records to piece together a narrative of his life.
Related Articles:
1. "Crafting Compelling Questions for a Father's Legacy Interview": This article focuses on developing effective interview questions to elicit rich narratives and personal anecdotes.
2. "Preserving Family History Through Oral Histories: A Practical Guide": A comprehensive guide on conducting and preserving oral history interviews, focusing on best practices and techniques.
3. "Ethical Considerations in Family Oral History Projects": This piece discusses the ethical implications of conducting and sharing family interviews, focusing on issues of privacy, consent, and representation.
4. "Overcoming Challenges in Interviewing Elderly Relatives": Provides practical advice for conducting successful interviews with elderly individuals who may have memory challenges or other limitations.
5. "Technology for Recording and Archiving Family Oral Histories": A review of the best technology for recording, storing, and sharing oral histories.
6. "Transforming Oral History Interviews into Engaging Family Narratives": This article explores creative ways to share oral histories with family members, including book creation and multimedia presentations.
7. "The Emotional Impact of Conducting Family Legacy Interviews": This piece explores the emotional aspects of conducting these interviews, providing insights for both interviewers and interviewees.
8. "Using Photographs and Memorabilia to Enhance Family Oral History Interviews": This article demonstrates how visual aids can facilitate recall and create a richer interview experience.
9. "Legal Aspects of Family Oral Histories and Copyright Considerations": This piece discusses the legal aspects of recording, storing, and sharing oral histories, addressing issues of ownership and copyright.
| about my father interview: Days with My Father Phillip Toledano, 2012-08-01 Days With My Father is a son's photo journal of his aging father's last years. Following the death of his mother, photographer Phillip Toledano was shocked to learn of the extent of his father's severe memory loss. He started a blog on which he posted photographs and accompanying reflections on his father's changing state. Through sometimes sad, often funny, and always loving observations, we follow Toledano as he learns to reconcile the elderly man living in a twilight of half memories with the ambitious and handsome young man he occasionally still glimpses. Days With My Father is an honest and moving reflection about coming to terms with an aging parent. |
| about my father interview: Who Killed My Father Édouard Louis, 2019-02-21 Who Killed My Father is the story of a tough guy – the story of the little boy I never was. The story of my father. ‘What a beautiful book’ MAX PORTER In Who Killed My Father, Édouard Louis explores key moments in his father’s life, and the tenderness and disconnects in their relationship. Told with the fire of a writer determined on social justice, and with the compassion of a loving son, the book urgently and brilliantly engages with issues surrounding masculinity, class, homophobia, shame and social poverty. It unflinchingly takes aim at systems that disadvantage those they seek to exclude – those who have their expectations, hopes and passions crushed by a society which gives them little thought. ‘Édouard Louis is the vanguard of France’s new generation of political writers’ Evening Standard |
| about my father interview: Mining for Gold Tom Camacho, 2019-06-20 Godly thriving leaders are precious and valuable, but developing those leaders is not easy. Many leaders feel stuck, tired and frustrated in their growth and calling. This can change. In Mining for Gold, pastor and master-coach, Tom Camacho, offers a fresh perspective on how to draw out the best in ourselves and in those around us. Cutting through the complexity and challenges of leadership development, he gives us practical and effective tools to help leaders grow personally and develop those around them. Coaching, through the power of the Holy Spirit, provides the clarity and momentum we need to grow. When we get clarity, everything changes. Coaching helps us better understand our identity in Christ, our God-given wiring, and how we naturally bear the most fruit. There is gold in God’s people, waiting to be discovered. Let’s learn to draw out that treasure and help others flourish in their life and leadership. |
| about my father interview: In My Father's House Fox Butterfield, 2018-10-09 From the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist: a pathbreaking examination of our huge crime and incarceration problem that looks at the influence of the family--specifically one Oregon family with a generations-long legacy of lawlessness. The United States currently holds the distinction of housing nearly one-quarter of the world's prison population. But our reliance on mass incarceration, Fox Butterfield argues, misses the intractable reality: As few as 5 percent of families account for half of all crime, and only 10 percent account for two-thirds. In introducing us to the Bogle family, the author invites us to understand crime in this eye-opening new light. He chronicles the malignant legacy of criminality passed from parents to children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. Examining the long history of the Bogles, a white family, Butterfield offers a revelatory look at criminality that forces us to disentangle race from our ideas about crime and, in doing so, strikes at the heart of our deepest stereotypes. And he makes clear how these new insights are leading to fundamentally different efforts at reform. With his empathic insight and profound knowledge of criminology, Butterfield offers us both the indelible tale of one family's transgressions and tribulations, and an entirely new way to understand crime in America. |
| about my father interview: Finding My Father Deborah Tannen, 2020-09-15 A #1 New York Times bestselling author traces her father’s life from turn-of-the-century Warsaw to New York City in an intimate memoir about family, memory, and the stories we tell. “An accomplished, clear-eyed, and affecting memoir about a man who is at once ordinary and extraordinary.”—Forward Long before she was the acclaimed author of a groundbreaking book about women and men, praised by Oliver Sacks for having “a novelist’s ear for the way people speak,” Deborah Tannen was a girl who adored her father. Though he was often absent during her childhood, she was profoundly influenced by his gift for writing and storytelling. As she grew up and he grew older, she spent countless hours recording conversations with her father for the account of his life she had promised him she’d write. But when he hands Tannen journals he kept in his youth, and she discovers letters he saved from a woman he might have married instead of her mother, she is forced to rethink her assumptions about her father’s life and her parents’ marriage. In this memoir, Tannen embarks on the poignant, yet perilous, quest to piece together the puzzle of her father’s life. Beginning with his astonishingly vivid memories of the Hasidic community in Warsaw, where he was born in 1908, she traces his journey: from arriving in New York City in 1920 to quitting high school at fourteen to support his mother and sister, through a vast array of jobs, including prison guard and gun-toting alcohol tax inspector, to eventually establishing the largest workers’ compensation law practice in New York and running for Congress. As Tannen comes to better understand her father’s—and her own—relationship to Judaism, she uncovers aspects of his life she would never have imagined. Finding My Father is a memoir of Eli Tannen’s life and the ways in which it reflects the near century that he lived. Even more than that, it’s an unflinching account of a daughter’s struggle to see her father clearly, to know him more deeply, and to find a more truthful story about her family and herself. |
| about my father interview: Reading My Father Alexandra Styron, 2011-04-19 PART MEMOIR AND PART ELEGY, READING MY FATHER IS THE STORY OF A DAUGHTER COMING TO KNOW HER FATHER AT LAST— A GIANT AMONG TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICAN NOVELISTS AND A MAN WHOSE DEVASTATING DEPRESSION DARKENED THE FAMILY LANDSCAPE. In Reading My Father, William Styron’s youngest child explores the life of a fascinating and difficult man whose own memoir, Darkness Visible, so searingly chronicled his battle with major depression. Alexandra Styron’s parents—the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Sophie’s Choice and his political activist wife, Rose—were, for half a century, leading players on the world’s cultural stage. Alexandra was raised under both the halo of her father’s brilliance and the long shadow of his troubled mind. A drinker, a carouser, and above all “a high priest at the altar of fiction,” Styron helped define the concept of The Big Male Writer that gave so much of twentieth-century American fiction a muscular, glamorous aura. In constant pursuit of The Great Novel, he and his work were the dominant force in his family’s life, his turbulent moods the weather in their ecosystem. From Styron’s Tidewater, Virginia, youth and precocious literary debut to the triumphs of his best-known books and on through his spiral into depression, Reading My Father portrays the epic sweep of an American artist’s life, offering a ringside seat on a great literary generation’s friendships and their dramas. It is also a tale of filial love, beautifully written, with humor, compassion, and grace. |
| about my father interview: Kid Gloves Adam Mars-Jones, 2015-08-27 NEW STATESMAN, TELEGRAPH, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT AND GUARDIAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2015 When his widowed father - once a high court judge and always a formidable figure - drifted into vagueness if not dementia, the writer Adam Mars-Jones took responsibility for his care. Intimately trapped in the London flat where the family had always lived, the two men entered an oblique new stage in their relationship. In the aftermath of an unlooked-for intimacy, Mars-Jones has written a book devoted to particular emotions and events. Kid Gloves is a highly entertaining book about (among other things) families, the legal profession, and the vexed question of Welsh identity. It is necessarily also a book about the writer himself - and the implausible, long-delayed moment, some years before, when he told his sexually conservative father about his own orientation, taking the homophobic bull by the horns. The supporting cast includes Ian Fleming, the Moors Murderers, Jacqueline Bisset and Gilbert O'Sullivan, the singer-songwriter whose trademark look kept long shorts from their rightful place on the fashion pages for so many years. |
| about my father interview: For the Sins of My Father Albert DeMeo, Mary Jane Ross, 2004-03-27 Roy DeMeo was one of the Mafia's most cold-blooded killers - personally responsible for up to 200 murders. His grisly methods of disposing of his victims appear to have been an inspiration for similar killings enacted in TV's hugely popular The Sopranos. Albert DeMeo is his son. who led the Gambino family's most fearsome killers and thieves, through the eyes of a son who had never known any other kind of life. Coming of age in an opulent Long Island house where money was abundant but its source was unclear, Al became Roy's confidant, sent to call in loans at age 14 and gradually coming to understand what his father actually did for a living: loan shark, car thief, porn purveyor and, above all, murderer. But when Al was 17, Roy's body was found in the trunk of a car, a gangland slaying that placed Al between federal prosecutors seeking his testimony and a Mob crew determined to keep him quiet. DeMeo's horrific criminal life, and the revelations led his son to a nervous breakdown. How could he have spent his life looking up to, and loving, a vicious killer? Roy's dangerous and doomed life, Al DeMeo embarked on a courageous quest for the truth, reconciliation, and honour. With the implacable narrative drive of a thriller and the power of a painfully honest memoir, For the Sins of My Father presents a startling perspective on the underworld of organized crime, exposing the cruel legacy of a Mafia life. |
| about my father interview: 41: A Portrait of My Father George W. Bush, 2014-11-11 Forty-three men have served as President of the United States. Countless books have been written about them. But never before has a President told the story of his father, another President, through his own eyes and in his own words. A unique and intimate biography, the book covers the entire scope of the elder President Bush’s life and career, including his service in the Pacific during World War II, his pioneering work in the Texas oil business, and his political rise as a Congressman, U.S. Representative to China and the United Nations, CIA Director, Vice President, and President. The book shines new light on both the accomplished statesman and the warm, decent man known best by his family. In addition, George W. Bush discusses his father’s influence on him throughout his own life, from his childhood in West Texas to his early campaign trips with his father, and from his decision to go into politics to his own two-term Presidency. |
| about my father interview: Bogart: In Search of My Father Stephen Humphrey Bogart, Gary Provost, 2012 For countless millions, Humphrey Bogart’s screen performances and real-life persona merged to make him one of the world’s most fabled figures—a legend of mythic proportions. Or, as his Sam Spade would have put it—the stuff that dreams are made of. But for his only son, Stephen, eight years old in 1957 when his father died of lung cancer, Humphrey Bogart’s giant shadow was a burden he carried until he finally came to understand the private man behind his father’s public face. And now, in this candid and insightful biography, Stephen Bogart explores and illuminates Humphrey Bogart’s life, work, and relationships as they never have been before. Writing with the encouragement of his famous mother, Lauren Bacall, Stephen calls on his memories, and take full advantage of the extraordinary access he has had to friends and colleagues of his father. The result is an intimate and personal profile of an enigmatic man whose tough image contrasted with very human ambitions and vulnerabilities. It is also a vastly entertaining book, filled with fascinating stories involving Frank Sinatra, Katharine Hepburn, “Swifty” Lazar, John Huston, Stephen Bogart’s stepfather, Jason Robards, and many others. Here is Humphrey Bogart, the pro’s pro on the set and the Hollywood renegade off it. The man’s man, the ladies’ man, the hard worker, and the man who liked to drink too much. The husband in three roller-coaster marriages and finally one perfect match, the proud father and absentee parent, the good friend and even better enemy. Here are eye-witness accounts of his most celebrated public misdeeds and moving testimonies of his most unexpected private moments. And finally, in perhaps the most compelling chapter of this shining saga, here is the close-up of Bogart’s last months, where his courage, dignity, and humor made his most stirring celluloid roles seem pale. Combining the drama of Humphrey Bogart’s life with that of a son whose path of reconciliation first had to move through a very difficult time, this is biography at its best—at once a loving tribute and a fascinating revelation. This ebook edition includes photographs directly from Stephen Bogart's personal collection. |
| about my father interview: Ramble Book: Musings on Childhood, Friendship, Family and 80s Pop Culture Adam Buxton, 2020-09-03 A RADIO 4 BOOK OF THE WEEK ‘An affectionate and revealing account ... Funny, sad, real, rueful.’ The Times ‘Warm, rambling and self-aware’ Guardian The long-awaited, rambling, tender, and very funny memoir from Adam Buxton |
| about my father interview: I Love the Bones of You Christopher Eccleston, 2019-09-19 ‘A beautiful book’ Zoë Ball ‘My father was an “ordinary man”, which of course means he was extraordinary.' Be it as Nicky Hutchinson in Our Friends In The North, Maurice in The A Word, or his reinvention of Doctor Who, One man, in life and death, has accompanied Christopher Eccleston every step of the way – his father, Ronnie. In I Love the Bones of You, Eccleston unveils a vivid portrait of a relationship that has shaped his entire career trajectory – mirroring and defining his own highs and lows, from stage and screen triumph to breakdown, anorexia and self-doubt. Eccleston describes how the tightening grip of dementia on his father slowly blinded him to his son’s existence, forcing a new and final chapter in their connection. Told with trademark honesty and openness, I Love the Bones of You is a celebration of those on whom the spotlight so rarely shines, as told by a man who found his voice in its glare. A love letter to one man, and a paean to many. |
| about my father interview: Lucky Child Loung Ung, 2010-06-30 After enduring years of hunger, deprivation, and devastating loss at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, ten-year-old Loung Ung became the lucky child, the sibling chosen to accompany her eldest brother to America while her one surviving sister and two brothers remained behind. In this poignant and elegiac memoir, Loung recalls her assimilation into an unfamiliar new culture while struggling to overcome dogged memories of violence and the deep scars of war. In alternating chapters, she gives voice to Chou, the beloved older sister whose life in war-torn Cambodia so easily could have been hers. Highlighting the harsh realities of chance and circumstance in times of war as well as in times of peace, Lucky Child is ultimately a testament to the resilience of the human spirit and to the salvaging strength of family bonds. |
| about my father interview: As I Knew Him: Anne Serling, 2014-05-01 A haunting and beautifully written memoir about the creator of The Twilight Zone. --Robert Redford Beautifully written. . .I laughed and I cried. I plan to read it again once I catch my breath. --Carol Burnett In this intimate, lyrical memoir about her iconic father, Anne Serling reveals the fun-loving dad and family man behind the imposing figure the public saw hosting The Twilight Zone each week. After his unexpected, early death, Anne, just 20, was left stunned. But through talking to his friends, poring over old correspondence, and recording her childhood memories, Anne not only found solace, but gained a deeper understanding of this remarkable man. Now she shares her discoveries, along with personal photos, revealing letters, and scenes of his childhood, war years, and their family's time together. A tribute to Rod Serling's legacy as a visionary, storyteller, and humanist, As I Knew Him is also a moving testament to the love between fathers and daughters. A tender, thoughtful and very personal portrait of American genius Rod Serling. --Alice Hoffman Richly told. . .a haunting memoir about grief, creativity, and a father-daughter bond as memorable and magical as any Twilight Zone episode. --Caroline Leavitt Filled with anecdotes and self-reflection. . .Serling still casts an outsized shadow. --Variety Lush memories of a remarkable father and adept analysis of his work. --Kirkus Reviews |
| about my father interview: Born Standing Up Steve Martin, 2008-09-04 Steve Martin has been an international star for over thirty years. Here, for the first time, he looks back to the beginning of his career and charmingly evokes the young man he once was. Born in Texas but raised in California, Steve was seduced early by the comedy shows that played on the radio when the family travelled back and forth to visit relatives. When Disneyland opened just a couple of miles away from home, an enchanted Steve was given his first chance to learn magic and entertain an audience. He describes how he noted the reaction to each joke in a ledger - 'big laugh' or 'quiet' - and assiduously studied the acts of colleagues, stealing jokes when needed. With superb detail, Steve recreates the world of small, dark clubs and the fear and exhilaration of standing in the spotlight. While a philosophy student at UCLA, he worked hard at local clubs honing his comedy and slowly attracting a following until he was picked up to write for TV. From here on, Steve Martin became an acclaimed comedian, packing out venues nationwide. One night, however, he noticed empty seats and realised he had 'reached the top of the rollercoaster'. BORN STANDING UP is a funny and riveting chronicle of how Steve Martin became the comedy genius we now know and is also a fascinating portrait of an era. |
| about my father interview: The Life of a Banana P. P. Wong, 2018-06 Longlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction Xing Li is what some Chinese people call a banana - yellow on the outside and white on the inside. Although born and raised in London, she never feels like she fits in. When her mother dies, she moves with her older brother to live with venomous Grandma, strange Uncle Ho and Hollywood actress Auntie Mei. Her only friend is Jay - a mixed raced Jamaican boy with a passion for classical music. . Then Xing Li's life takes an even harsher turn: the school bullying escalates and her uncle requests she assist him in an unthinkable favour. Her happy childhood becomes a distant memory as her new life is infiltrated with the harsh reality of being an ethnic minority. Consumed by secrets, violence and confusing family relations, Xing Li tries to find hope wherever she can. In order to find her own identity, she must first discover what it means to be both Chinese and British. PP Wong has delivered a unique and realistic young adult drama that is bursting with original content style and emotion. What Reviewers and Readers Say: 'PP Wong has blazed a trail for future British Chinese novelists ... bursting with original and exciting flavours, ' The Independent 'A moving and optimistic debut about orphaned siblings coping with a new strict home and racial bullying, ' The Guardian 'Life of a Banana is so refreshingly distinct. Read it, and you will soon find yourself wanting more, ' Daily Mail 'Impeccably observed, often hilarious, and deeply moving... pitch-perfect, ' David Henry Hwang |
| about my father interview: He Never Came Home Regina R. Robertson, 2017-06-13 “The strong, authentic voices of the women sharing their own narratives and awakenings from life without fathers is the power of this book.” —Esme AAMBC Non-Fiction Self-Help Book of the Year AAMBC Breakout Author of the Year He Never Came Home is a collection of twenty-two personal essays written by girls and women who have been separated from their fathers by way of divorce, abandonment, or death. The contributors to this collection come from a wide range of different backgrounds in terms of race, socioeconomic status, religion, and geographic location. Their essays offer deep insights into the emotions related to losing one’s father, including sadness, indifference, anger, acceptance—and everything in between. This book, edited by Essence magazine’s west coast editor Regina R. Robertson, is first and foremost an offering to young girls and women who have endured the loss of their fathers. But it also speaks to mothers who are raising girls without a father present, offering important perspective into their daughter’s feelings and struggles. The essays in He Never Came Home are organized into three categories: “Divorce,” “Distant,” and “Deceased.” With essays by contributors including Emmy Award-winning actress Regina King, fitness expert and New York Times bestselling author Gabrielle Reece, television comedy writer Jenny Lee—and a foreword by TV news anchor Joy-Ann Reid—this anthology illustrates the journey of the fatherless, and provides a space for these writers to express their pain, hope, and healing, minus any judgments and without apology. |
| about my father interview: My Father Left Me Ireland Michael Brendan Dougherty, 2019-04-30 The perfect gift for parents this Father’s Day: a beautiful, gut-wrenching memoir of Irish identity, fatherhood, and what we owe to the past. “A heartbreaking and redemptive book, written with courage and grace.” –J.D. Vance, author of Hillbilly Elegy “…a lovely little book.” –Ross Douthat, The New York Times The child of an Irish man and an Irish-American woman who split up before he was born, Michael Brendan Dougherty grew up with an acute sense of absence. He was raised in New Jersey by his hard-working single mother, who gave him a passion for Ireland, the land of her roots and the home of Michael's father. She put him to bed using little phrases in the Irish language, sang traditional songs, and filled their home with a romantic vision of a homeland over the horizon. Every few years, his father returned from Dublin for a visit, but those encounters were never long enough. Devastated by his father's departures, Michael eventually consoled himself by believing that fatherhood was best understood as a check in the mail. Wearied by the Irish kitsch of the 1990s, he began to reject his mother's Irish nationalism as a romantic myth. Years later, when Michael found out that he would soon be a father himself, he could no longer afford to be jaded; he would need to tell his daughter who she is and where she comes from. He immediately re-immersed himself in the biographies of firebrands like Patrick Pearse and studied the Irish language. And he decided to reconnect with the man who had left him behind, and the nation just over the horizon. He began writing letters to his father about what he remembered, missed, and longed for. Those letters would become this book. Along the way, Michael realized that his longings were shared by many Americans of every ethnicity and background. So many of us these days lack a clear sense of our cultural origins or even a vocabulary for expressing this lack--so we avoid talking about our roots altogether. As a result, the traditional sense of pride has started to feel foreign and dangerous; we've become great consumers of cultural kitsch, but useless conservators of our true history. In these deeply felt and fascinating letters, Dougherty goes beyond his family's story to share a fascinating meditation on the meaning of identity in America. |
| about my father interview: My Father’s Story: Eric Johnson , 2023-09-29 Discover the captivating story within the pages of My Father's Story: The Murder of the Best Man I've Ever Known by Eric Johnson. The story unfolds when Eric delves into the life and tragic death of his father, Bill Johnson, who was brutally murdered by his ex-girlfriend in his own home, taking not only his life but also that of his beloved dog. In Eric's account of the story, you will witness firsthand how profoundly an act of violence can change lives forever. Eric entangles his readers in a captivating journey toward truth and justice with surreal court hearings, fit for a horror movie, that puts his dad’s ex-girlfriend's mental health at the epicenter of her defense. As you flip through the pages, you'll be enthralled by each distressing twist and turn. Embark on this inside look into loss, heartache, and a brutal quest for truth that lies within My Father's Story: The Murder of the Best Man I've Ever Known. |
| about my father interview: Romulus, My Father Raimond Gaita, 1999-09-01 Winner of the 1998 Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction, Romulus, My Father is an iconic and deeply loved book. Romulus Gaita fled his home in his native Yugoslavia at the age of thirteen, and came to Australia with his young wife Christina and their infant son Raimond soon after the end of World War II. Tragic events were to overtake the boy's life, but Raimond Gaita has an extraordinary story to tell about growing up with his father amid the stony paddocks and flowing grasses of country Australia. Written simply and movingly, Romulus, My Father is about how a compassionate and honest man taught his son the meaning of living a decent life. It is about passion, betrayal and madness, about friendship and the joy and dignity of work, about character and fate, affliction and spirituality. No one will read this wonderful book without an enhanced sense of the possibilities of being alive. 'I know of no other book where the love between father and son has been more beautifully expressed.' Robert Manne |
| about my father interview: My Father's Paradise Ariel Sabar, 2009-10-13 In a remote corner of the world, forgotten for nearly three thousand years, lived an enclave of Kurdish Jews so isolated that they still spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Mostly illiterate, they were self-made mystics and gifted storytellers and humble peddlers who dwelt in harmony with their Muslim and Christian neighbors in the mountains of northern Iraq. To these descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, Yona Sabar was born. Yona's son Ariel grew up in Los Angeles, where Yona had become an esteemed professor, dedicating his career to preserving his people’s traditions. Ariel wanted nothing to do with his father’s strange immigrant heritage—until he had a son of his own. Ariel Sabar brings to life the ancient town of Zakho, discovering his family’s place in the sweeping saga of Middle-Eastern history. This powerful book is an improbable story of tolerance and hope set in what today is the very center of the world’s attention. |
| about my father interview: The Body Papers Grace Talusan, 2019-04-02 Winner of The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing “Grace Talusan writes eloquently about the most unsayable things: the deep gravitational pull of family, the complexity of navigating identity as an immigrant, and the ways we move forward even as we carry our traumas with us. Equal parts compassion and confession, The Body Papers is a stunning work by a powerful new writer who—like the best memoirists—transcends the personal to speak on a universal level.” —Celeste Ng, author of Everything I Never Told You and Little Fires Everywhere Born in the Philippines, young Grace Talusan moves with her family to a New England suburb in the 1970s. At school, she confronts racism as one of the few kids with a brown face. At home, the confusion is worse: her grandfather’s nightly visits to her room leave her hurt and terrified, and she learns to build a protective wall of silence that maps onto the larger silence practiced by her Catholic Filipino family. Talusan learns as a teenager that her family’s legal status in the country has always hung by a thread—for a time, they were “illegal.” Family, she’s told, must be put first. The abuse and trauma Talusan suffers as a child affects all her relationships, her mental health, and her relationship with her own body. Later, she learns that her family history is threaded with violence and abuse. And she discovers another devastating family thread: cancer. In her thirties, Talusan must decide whether to undergo preventive surgeries to remove her breasts and ovaries. Despite all this, she finds love, and success as a teacher. On a fellowship, Talusan and her husband return to the Philippines, where she revisits her family’s ancestral home and tries to reclaim a lost piece of herself. Not every family legacy is destructive. From her parents, Talusan has learned to tell stories in order to continue. The generosity of spirit and literary acuity of this debut memoir are a testament to her determination and resilience. In excavating such abuse and trauma, and supplementing her story with government documents, medical records, and family photos, Talusan gives voice to unspeakable experience, and shines a light of hope into the darkness. |
| about my father interview: Consumed David Cronenberg, 2014-09-30 The story of two journalists whose entanglement in a French philosopher's death becomes a surreal journey into global conspiracy. |
| about my father interview: Slave Narratives: Interviews with Former Slaves: Arkansas Narratives, Part 2 Work Projects Administration, 2012-12-17 After the Revolutionary War, millions of African descendent men and women remained slaves despite being freed by the English. Nearly 100 years later they were freed, but remained living in fear for their lives in the Southern States. This book details first hand accounts of what it was like to live under the hand of oppression and slavery. The language is harsh and direct, but shows what life truly was like by the stories and pictures of individuals who lived during this era. This book is for any history major or any individual who wants to find Americas dark past. It is filled with stories and language that may be disturbing to some, but shows the true life under slavery in America. This book has been left unedited as originally written in 1938-39. |
| about my father interview: Caribou Island David Vann, 2011-01-27 On a small island in a glacier-fed lake on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, a marriage is unravelling. Gary, driven by thirty years of diverted plans, and Irene, haunted by a tragedy in her past, are trying to rebuild their life together. Following the outline of Gary's old dream, they're hauling logs out to Caribou Island in good weather and in terrible storms, in sickness and in health, to patch together the kind of cabin that drew them to Alaska in the first place. Across the water on the mainland, Irene and Gary's grown daughter, Rhoda is starting her own life. She fantasizes about the perfect wedding day, whilst her betrothed, Jim the dentist, wonders about the possibility of an altogether different future. From the author of the massively-acclaimed Legend of a Suicide, comes a devastating novel about a marriage, a couple blighted by past shadows and the weight of expectation, of themselves and of each other. Brilliantly drawn and fiercely honest in its depiction of love and disappointment, David Vann's first novel confirms him as one of America's most dazzling writers of fiction. |
| about my father interview: My Father's War Carolyn Ross Johnston, 2012-08-03 The author draws on her father's account of the war and her extensive interviews with other veterans of the 92nd Division to describe the experiences of a naive southern white officer and his segregated unit on an intimate level. During the war, the protocol that required the assignment of southern white officers to command black units, both in Europe and in the Pacific theater, was often problematic, but Johnston seemed more successful than most, earning the trust and respect of his men at the same time that he learned to trust and respect them. Gene Johnston and the African American soldiers were transformed by the war and upon their return helped transform the nation. The 92nd Division of the Fifth Army was the only African American infantry division to see combat in Europe during 1944 and 1945, suffering more than 3,200 casualties. Members of this unit, known as Buffalo Soldiers, endured racial violence on the home front and experienced racism abroad. Engaged in combat for nine months, they were under the command of southern white infantry officers like their captain, Eugene E. Johnston. |
| about my father interview: Forgiving My Father, Forgiving Myself Ruth Graham, 2019-10-01 When we live with unresolved anger or hurt, the result is nearly always bitterness, broken relationships, and unhealthy behaviors. Unforgiveness not only sabotages our interactions with those around us, it impedes our own spiritual growth and inner peace. And it can happen to anyone. In her most vulnerable writing yet, Ruth Graham reveals how a visit to Angola Prison inspired her to release the unforgiveness lurking in her own heart--toward others, herself, and even her heavenly Father and her earthly father, evangelist Billy Graham. In this encouraging book, she weaves her own personal experiences with biblical examples to explore what holds us back from forgiving others and ourselves--and what we gain when we finally discover the power to forgive. Along the way, she guides us into our own deeply personal experiences of forgiveness that will penetrate our protective walls and unleash true transformation in our lives. |
| about my father interview: Daddykins Kalpana Mohan, 2016-11-16 A big-hearted meditation on love, loss, and happy memories |
| about my father interview: A View from the Mound; My Father's Life in Baseball T. J. Lewis, 2009-04-06 The tale of a man who made a lifetime contribution to the all American game. How he touched the lives of thousands of young men and friends in their words and memories from high school baseball through the major leagues.The Biography of my dad, Joe Skippy Lewis. Interviews with Johnny Pesky, Alan Trammell, Mark The Bird Fidrych and More!!!! |
| about my father interview: My Father, the Pornographer Chris Offutt, 2017-04-11 A memoir in which writer Chris Offutt struggles to understand his recently deceased father based on his reading of the 400-plus novels [Andrew Offutt]--a well-known writer of pornography in the 1970s and 80s--left him in his will--Publisher marketing. |
| about my father interview: My Father, Daniel Boone Neal O. Hammon, 2013-04-06 One of the most famous figures of the American frontier, Daniel Boone clashed with the Shawnee and sought to exploit the riches of a newly settled region. Despite Boone's fame, his life remains wrapped in mystery.The Boone legend, which began with the publication of John Filson's The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boone and continued through modern times with Fess Parker's Daniel Boone television series, has become a hopeless mix of fact and fiction. Born in 1819, archivist Lyman Draper was a tireless collector of oral history and is responsible for much of what we do know about Boone. Particularly interested in frontier history, Draper conducted interviews with the famous and the obscure and collected thousands of manuscripts (he walked hundreds of miles through the South to save historical materials during the Civil War). In an 1851 visit with Boone's youngest son, Nathan, and Nathan's wife, Olive, Draper produced over three hundred pages of notes that became the most important source of information about Daniel. The interviews provide a wealth of accurate, first-hand information about Boone's years in Kentucky, his capture by Indians, his defense of Fort Boonesboro, his lengthy hunting expeditions, and his final years in Missouri. My Father, Daniel Boone is an engaging account of one of America's great pioneers, in which Nathan makes a point of separating fact from fiction. From explaining the methods his father used to track game to detailing how land speculation and legal problems from title claims caused Boone to leave Kentucky and take up residence farther west, Nathan Boone's portrait of his father brings a crucial period in frontier history to life. |
| about my father interview: The Suicide Index Joan Wickersham, 2009-06-23 National Book Award Finalist: “Wickersham has journeyed into the dark underworld inside her father and herself and emerged with a powerful, gripping story.” —The Boston Globe One winter morning in 1991, Joan Wickersham’s father shot himself in the head. The father she loved would never have killed himself, and yet he had. His death made a mystery of his entire life. Who was he? Why did he do it? And what was the impact of his death on the people who loved him? Using an index—the most formal and orderly of structures—Wickersham explores this chaotic and incomprehensible reality. Every bit of family history, every encounter with friends, doctors, and other survivors, exposes another facet of elusive truth. Dark, funny, sad, and gripping, at once a philosophical and a deeply personal exploration, The Suicide Index is, finally, a daughter’s anguished, loving elegy to her father. |
| about my father interview: The Kinship of Secrets Eugenia SunHee Kim, 2018 From the author of The Calligrapher's Daughter comes the riveting story of two sisters, one raised in the United States, the other in South Korea, and the family that bound them together even as the Korean War kept them apart. |
| about my father interview: Racing My Father Patrick Smithwick, 2006 Becoming a steeplechase jockey takes great courage, especially when following in the footsteps of a legendary father. Growing up, Patrick Smithwick idolized his father, A.P. Smithwick, considered the greatest steeplechase jockey in America at the time. In this compelling memoir, Patrick Smithwick recalls how his father's success shaped his own ambitions and dreams. Despite witnessing the pinnacle of the sport, the younger Smithwick started his own journey without a leg up. He mucked stalls and lived in tack rooms, learning the sport from the bottom up. After his father was severely injured in a racing accident, young Patrick did not sway from pursuing his dream. Though he may not have reached the career heights of his father, Patrick Smithwick succeeded in carving his own niche as a top steeplechase rider. |
| about my father interview: My Father's Guru Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, 2013-03-19 As a child growing up in the Hollywood Hills during the 1950s, Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson thought it was perfectly normal that a guru named Paul Brunton lived with his family and dictated everything about their daily rituals, from their diet to their travel plans to his parents' sex life. But in this extraordinary memoir, Masson reflects on just how bizarre everything about his childhood was-especially the relationship between his father and the elusive, eminent mystic he revered (and supported) for years. Writing with candor and charm, Masson describes how his father became convinced that Paul Brunton-P.B. to his familiars-was a living God who would fill his life with enlightenment and wonder. As the Masson family's personal guru, Brunton freely discussed his life on other planets, laid down strict rules on fasting and meditation, and warned them all of the imminence of World War III. For years, young Jeffrey was as ardent a disciple as his father-but with the onset of adolescence, he staged a dramatic revolt against this domestic deity and everything he stood for. Filled with absurdist humor and intimate confessions, My Father's Guru is the spellbinding coming-of-age story of one of our most brilliant writers. REVIEWS An uncompromising yet compassionate book . . . A coming-of-age memoir unlike any other. -The Toronto Star AN EXTRAORDINARY CAUTIONARY TALE .... about the enduring human impulse to imbue charismatic individuals with superhuman attributes. -San Francisco Chronicle Told with a mixture of humor and compassion. . . . Throughout this confessional book a grown man tells of an unusual, even weird childhood and the blind submission that consumed his family's life. -ROBERT COLES The New York Times Book Review My Father's Guru is an interesting account of a warped upbringing made fascinating by the insight it provides into Masson's adult life. He makes no excuses: in initially revering Freud and other authority figures, Masson realizes he was seeking new and better gurus that Brunton-and was fated to reject them pitilessly when they showed themselves, like Brunton, to be merely human. -Los Angeles Times Book Review Beneath the guru-bashing, the book is Masson's poignant and loving indictment of his parents, worth reading for his psychological portrait of coming-of-age disillusionment. -Seattle Weekly |
| about my father interview: Lulu in the Sky Loung Ung, 2012-04-17 Concluding the trilogy that started with her bestselling memoir, First They Killed My Father, Loung Ung illuminates her struggle to reconcile with her past while moving forward toward happiness. When readers first met Loung Ung in her critically acclaimed memoir First They Killed My Father, she was a young, innocent child in Cambodia. But forced by the Khmer Rouge into the life of a child soldier, she soon found herself locked in a desperate struggle for survival in Cambodia's notorious killing fields. In Lucky Child, her life took a turn. As a refugee in Vermont, she grappled with post-traumatic stress, cultural assimilation roadblocks, and the abandonment of her sister in Cambodia. Now, Lulu in the Sky tells the next chapter in Ung's life, revealing her daily struggle to keep darkness and depression at bay while she attends college and falls in love with Mark Priemer, a Midwestern archetype of American optimism. Lulu in the Sky is the story of Ung's tentative steps into love, activism, and marriage—a journey that takes her to a Cambodian village to reconnect with her mother's spirit, to a vocation focused on healing the landscape of her birth, and to the patience and unconditional support of a very special man. |
| about my father interview: Never Give Up A Father and Son Reunion 65 Years in the making Rex Marvin Beach, 2021-10-01 In 1954 Rex Beach's father left him and his mother. In 2010 Rex Tracked down his father and fought hard for nine years to have his father's remains returned to Canton, Ohio. On January 08, 2019 Rex and his father were reunited and on January 10, 2019 his father was buried with full military honors at the national cemetery near his son. This is his story. |
| about my father interview: In Search of My Father Helena Popovic, 2022-03-28 After her mother dies, an estranged daughter discovers that her father has Alzheimer's - the very disease she has spent her medical career trying to cure. This timeless book shows we can improve our brain even after a diagnosis of dementia. |
| about my father interview: Das Gehirn meines Vaters Jonathan Franzen, 2009 2-sprachiger Lektüreband mit einer Erzählung von Jonathan Frantzen und einer Audio-CD mit dem englischen Text; für Lernende mit guten Vorkenntnissen. |
| about my father interview: Dreams From My Father Barack Obama, 2007-06-03 An international bestseller which has sold over a million copies in the UK, Dreams From My Father is a refreshing, revealing portrait of a young man asking big questions about identity and belonging. The son of a Black African father and a white American mother, Barack Obama recounts an emotional odyssey, retracing the migration of his mother's family from Kansas to Hawai'i, then to his childhood home in Indonesia. Finally he travels to Kenya, where he confronts the bitter truth of his father's life and at last reconciles his divided inheritance. Written nearly fifteen years before becoming president, Dreams from My Father is an unforgettable read. It illuminates not only Obama's journey, but also our universal desire to understand our history and what makes us who we are. |
My Apps
Access and manage all your Microsoft apps and services in one place with My Apps.
My Pay Login Site
My Pay allows users to manage pay information, leave and earning statements, and W-2s. This is the login and information screen.
My Account
Sign in to your Microsoft account to manage your settings and access personalized services.
my Social Security | SSA
A free and secure my Social Security account provides personalized tools for everyone, whether you receive benefits or not. You can use your account to request a replacement Social …
Welcome to My Activity
Welcome to My Activity. Data helps make Google services more useful for you. Sign in to review and manage your activity, including things you’ve searched for, websites you’ve visited, and …
Google Account
To edit the info that you use on Google services, like your name and photo, sign in to your account. You can also choose what personal info to show when you interact with others on …
Microsoft account | Sign In or Create Your Account Today ...
Sign In with your Microsoft account. One account. One place to manage it all. Welcome to your account dashboard.
Sign in | Login.gov
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites
My Verizon: Manage account & pay bills - Support Overview
Manage your account online with My Verizon. Pay your bill, check your usage, swap SIM cards, view your order status and much more.
Learn More About Google's Secure and Protected Accounts - Google
All of Google, working for you. Sign in to your Google Account, and get the most out of all the Google services you use. Your account helps you do more by personalizing your Google …
My Apps
Access and manage all your Microsoft apps and services in one place with My Apps.
My Pay Login Site
My Pay allows users to manage pay information, leave and earning statements, and W-2s. This is the login and information screen.
My Account
Sign in to your Microsoft account to manage your settings and access personalized services.
my Social Security | SSA
A free and secure my Social Security account provides personalized tools for everyone, whether you receive benefits or not. You can use your account to request a replacement Social …
Welcome to My Activity
Welcome to My Activity. Data helps make Google services more useful for you. Sign in to review and manage your activity, including things you’ve searched for, websites you’ve visited, and …
Google Account
To edit the info that you use on Google services, like your name and photo, sign in to your account. You can also choose what personal info to show when you interact with others on …
Microsoft account | Sign In or Create Your Account Today ...
Sign In with your Microsoft account. One account. One place to manage it all. Welcome to your account dashboard.
Sign in | Login.gov
Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites
My Verizon: Manage account & pay bills - Support Overview
Manage your account online with My Verizon. Pay your bill, check your usage, swap SIM cards, view your order status and much more.
Learn More About Google's Secure and Protected Accounts - Google
All of Google, working for you. Sign in to your Google Account, and get the most out of all the Google services you use. Your account helps you do more by personalizing your Google …
