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Explore the influential writings of George W. Bush's speechwriter Michael Gerson, a key figure in the compassionate conservative movement, renowned for his Christian engagement and advocacy as a defender of the poor and marginalized communities.It is not an exaggeration to say that Michael Gerson possessed one of the most important consciences of his generation. As the chief speech writer for President George W. Bush, he wrote the words that rallied and ennobled the nation after the September 11th attacks. He helped design and champion Bush's PEPFAR program, which saved upwards of 20 million lives as HIV/AIDS ravaged Africa. His famous line defending public education reform was to say that failure would amount to “a soft bigotry of low expectations.” He became one of the nation's most eloquent columnists, who was never content to do political horse race punditry but devoted himself to the most essential causes of the time, pushing back on the authoritarianism of Donald Trump and pushing for the kind of compassionate conservatism that he dedicated his life to designing. Defiant Hope is his writings about the things he loved—humanity, faith in God, his dog, and his boys. Essays feature the immensely complicated sadness when you drop your children off at college for the first time. Another is about his public battle with depression. He also includes chapters about men and women who formed this great procession of Christian Reformers—John Wesley, Jonathan Edwards, William Wilberforce, and Olaudah Equiano—and the great causes to which they were devoted, from abolitionism to civil rights. What lingers is his gracious voice across all the roles that he played, as David Brooks writes in the introduction. What you hear is “a prophet lamenting iniquity, a father and a friend capable of bursts of gratitude and appreciation, a Christian who is sometimes buried under sadness and close to despair, but who never loses sight of that distant illuminating beacon of hope.”

The true story of a father and son who enlist in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard after the horrors of 9/11 shake the nation.Travis Harman, a young skater punk from the small farming town of Hughesville, PA has never had a close relationship with his father, Dean, but after 9/11 shakes the nation, Travis and Dean enlist in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard together. Shortly after joining, Travis begins to have second thoughts and devises a plan to leave the Army. Once back in Hughesville, he realizes the only way he'll ever gain his father's acceptance is to enlist, and so he reverses course and joins again. This time, now fully committed, Travis endures rigorous basic and advanced training at Fort Benning and Fort Gordon, Georgia. Just as advanced training ends, Dean helps Travis get work at Fort Indiantown Gap supporting the training of troops preparing to deploy. As Travis prepares to head back to Hughesville, Dean calls informing him that father and son will be deploying to Afghanistan together.Travis and Dean deploy to Afghanistan in December of 2008, heading to Fort Bragg, North Carolina first. After three months of train up, Travis is sent to a remote outpost in the northeast part of the country, while his father has a cushy desk job at Bagram Airfield. Travis is pulled into often horrific realities of modern war as he experiences intense combat all while yearning for his father's acceptance. Travis goes back to Bagram and sees his father in transit to Qatar where he will be going on pass for some much-needed rest and relaxation. The tales of Travis'bravery under fire reach his father before Travis arrives, and when he greets his father once again, Travis starts to feel accepted by his father, a feeling he has chased since boyhood.

POR EL GANADOR DEL PREMIO ALFAGUARA Y PREMIO DE LA CRÍTICA. Después de Umbilical, uno de los libros del año según El Cultural, Neuman lleva más lejos «uno de los mejores homenajes a la paternidad» (Babelia) Las emociones de un padre ante la iniciación verbal de su hijo impulsan este libro repleto de hallazgos. Sus páginas exploran el enigma de los aprendizajes esenciales que jamás recordaremos: empezar a caminar, hablar, formar la identidad y organizar nuestra memoria. Construyendo un luminoso relato lírico, su voz rinde tributo a la primera infancia y a la lengua misma, fruto de un raro equilibrio entre enamoramiento y reflexión. Pequeño hablante pertenece a un género de literatura amorosa poco frecuente: la que un padre asombrado escribe para su hijo. Profundizando en el camino abierto por Umbilical, Neuman recrea con delicado humor los vértigos del tiempo, los vínculos entre generaciones o los conflictos íntimos, dialogando con las actuales transformaciones en los roles familiares y en nuestra sensibilidad cotidiana. La crítica ha dicho sobrePequeño hablante: «Maravilloso e inolvidable. […] Con un lirismo emocionante y compartido, Neuman enamora al lector». Begoña Alonso, Elle «Con un revisionado a los límites patriarcales hacia la crianza, Neuman escribe una carta de amor a su hijo. […] Mediante un relato lírico y luminoso, el autor rinde homenaje a la infancia temprana y al poder de la lengua misma, logrando un equilibrio singular entre el amor incondicional y la reflexión profunda». Carmen Gómez Moreno, El Generacional «Andrés Neuman ha vuelto a poner a la paternidad en el centro del discurso con Pequeño hablante: […] una mirada que intenta alejarse de arquetipos tóxicos y narrativas heredadas y con la que sigue conquistando ese espacio emocional que parece vetado a los hombres». Raquel García, La hora extra - Cadena SER «Un libro escrito a partir de los fogonazos de asombro de un padre que admira el espectáculo de la adquisición del lenguaje por parte de su hijo». Adrián Cordellat, El País «Uno de los escritores más prolíficos en esto de escudriñar la paternidad a través de la literatura. […] Pequeño hablante se emociona con esa primera infancia en la que las cosas empiezan a tener nombre y el mundo se expande en la imaginación contagiosa de un niño y su padre». Lucas Méndez Chico-Álvarez, El Independiente «Un texto delicado, apasionado, tierno, compuesto de una miríada de otros textos más pequeños y fulgurantes, sobre la sacudida existencial que te golpea cuando tu hijo empuña la palabra». Daniel Arjona, Zenda La crítica ha dicho sobreUmbilical: «Repleto de amor, de delicadeza y de la sabiduría casi inefable que proporciona la contemplación enamorada. Umbilical es uno de los mejores homenajes a la paternidad que he leído». Manuel Rodríguez Rivero, El País «Un raro testimonio masculino [...] que confabula contra el silencio incómodo sobre la paternidad en primera persona; que apunta a reconstruir, desdela reflexión amorosa y sin pudor, el tejido invisible que une a los padres con sus hijos». Adriana Bertorelli, El Mundo

«¿Hasta dónde podemos recuperar una memoria ajena? ¿Es posible entender lo que un padre ha sido sin nosotros? Ser hijo significa descender, alterar el tiempo, crear un desarreglo, un desajuste que se subsana con pedagogía, a veces con afecto o transmisión de conocimientos.» Juan Villoro relata en La figura del mundo, el orden secreto de las cosas, algunos pasajes memoriosos en torno a su padre, el pensador mexicano-catalán, Luis Villoro. Sin el afán de hacer una biografía en estricto sentido, Juan evoca aquí la vida singular de quien fuera filósofo, luchador social, zapatista y autor de una obra fundamental. En este libro hace una aproximación a una figura a la vez íntima y pública, adentrándose en las complejidades que toda vida tiene, narrando con maestría instantes que se desdoblan para entender el ubicuo presente. Recupera así, pues, la esencia de un padre quien estuvo presente en la vida familiar de un modo intangible, un padre que debe ser indagado por un hijo que intuye sus afectos y renueva, así, el pasado. Escrito con gran sensibilidad y agudeza, este libro condensa el asombro y la emotividad para quien la escritura se convirtió en «una permanente carta al padre».

In this engrossing book, a father and son ascend a mountain together, retracing the steps of a boy who went missing there a century earlier—a quest that spawns a tender meditation on nature, family, and the joy of discovery.Six-year-old Hans Torske disappeared in Norway's Skrim mountains in 1894. Why he wandered away from his family's cabin is still a mystery, but his body was found the following summer, lying atop a 2,860-foot mountain peak and covered with his thin jacket. More than 100 years later, nature writer Torbjørn Ekelund and his seven-year-old son, August, attempt the same summit. It's August's first overnight hiking trip, and Ekelund is eager to share his love of nature with his son. But soon he notices that the ways children and adults experience nature are vastly different, for better and for worse.The Boy and the Mountain reflects on what parenthood requires: experiencing the joy of watching your child go out into the world for the first time, while also worrying about the dangers they may face. Filled with curiosity, humility, and deep gratitude for wild places, this gem of a book is a celebration of the uncompromising nature of the elements, our bond with them, and the special relationship between father and son.

‘My Father Who Mothered Me'In 1942 my father, Darwin Fitzgerald (‘Gerry') Samuel, boards a ship and leaves his native island of Grenada, bound for war-torn Britain. He worked in the armaments industry, qualified as a teacher, and married Scottish nurse Nelleen Hogan. In 1950, two years after the Empire Windrush had opened the flood gates to England, our father went home with his young family: a man on the up. Pity, it wouldn't last. One fateful day in 1960 while living in Trinidad, my mother walked out on us without warning, thrusting her three young sons into the sole care of our father. To say our father was unprepared is putting it mildly: he was in a state of shock. But despite his shock, there was one thing he would never do: abandon his sons. Teacher, seeker, writer, Renaissance man, and lifelong nomad, that was my father. Unlike most of the Windrush Generation, our journey didn't end after we got off the ship in Liverpool – that was just the beginning. In 1971 came my father's finest move: Jamaica. In one seminal year, my life was transformed: from a dumbed-down, low self-esteem immigrant kid in London, into a newly confident sixth former, about to enter university. After my father died, suddenly and shockingly, my brothers and I (who really are called Tom and Gerry) went in search of our long-lost mother, and what we found was way more than we'd bargained for. Follow me as we go from the hills of Grenada to the arse end of London to the Buckingham Palace, The White House and beyond, in an unforgettable West Indian journey, full of dramatic twists and escapades. This is my story – my tribute to our father and to all those unsung fathers, who have mothered countless generations of Caribbean men and women.

A father's stirring and tender tribute to the son he lost to suicide After years of battling clinical depression exacerbated by autism, Auggie Hubbard died by suicide at the age of 19. In this poignant tribute to his son, Robert Hubbard—a theatre scholar and actor—stages Auggie's life in a series of vivid and tender scenes: Auggie's insatiable hunger for Accelerated Reader points. His tireless lightsaber practice in the local park. His sonorous tuba practice in the ward of his inpatient program. Through these anecdotes of Auggie's life and the days following his death, readers journey with a family shaken by mental illness and share in their hard-won joys in defiance of depression. Refusing easy answers and clichés about “God's plan,” Hubbard unflinchingly asks: Does faith matter amid such tragedy? What do you do when awareness isn't enough? When you've tried so hard to keep your child safe, but your efforts fail? His honesty and vulnerability—and his tender portrait of Auggie—are gifts to all who live with their own questions in the wake of a loved one's death.Foreword Reviews INDIES Book of the Year Award in Grief/Grieving Finalist (2023)

This book publishes - for the most part, for the first time - Gandhi's letters to his youngest son, Devadas from 1914, when father and son were both in South Africa to 1948, when they were both in Delhi, the capital of free India where within hours of the last letter Gandhi was assassinated. Gandhi wrote these letters by day, he wrote them by night, he wrote them from aboard trains, steamers, both right and left hands being pressed into service to rest one when tired out. The letters span three decades during which the writer grew from being a fighter for the rights of Indians in South Africa to being hailed as Father of the Nation by millions in India and - opposed by many as well including the man who felled him by three bullets fired at point blank range on 30 January, 1948. The letters hold his aspirations for his son and for his nation. They bear great love and they also scorch. And we see Devadas, the recipient of the letters, move in them from compliant childhood and youth, to adulthood, questioning and remonstrating with his father and being just the independent son his father wants him to be.

“Nabil traces the image of his father through song. With growing fascination and heartbreak, he draws out meaning from the shadow of absence, and ultimately redefines what it means to be a family.” - Michelle Zauner, New York Times bestselling author of Crying in H Mart and Grammy nominated musician Japanese BreakfastA memoir about one man's journey to connect with his musician father, ultimately re-drawing the lines that define family and race.Throughout his adult life, whether he was opening a Seattle record store in the'90s or touring the world as the only non-white band member in alternative rock bands, Nabil Ayers felt the shadow and legacy of his father's musical genius, and his race, everywhere. In 1971, a white, Jewish, former ballerina, chose to have a child with the famous Black jazz musician Roy Ayers, fully expecting and agreeing that he would not be involved in the child's life. In this highly original memoir, their son, Nabil Ayers, recounts a life spent living with the aftermath of that decision, and his journey to build an identity of his own despite and in spite of his father's absence. Growing up, Nabil only meets his father a handful of times. But Roy's influence is strong, showing itself in Nabil's instinctual love of music, and later, in the music industry—Nabil's chosen career path. By turns hopeful--wanting to connect with the man who passed down his genetic predisposition for musical talent—and frustrated with Roy's continued emotional distance, Nabil struggles with how much DNA can define a family… and a person. Unable to fully connect with Roy, Nabil ultimately discovers the existence of several half-siblings as well as a paternal ancestor who was enslaved. Following these connections, Nabil meets and befriends the descendant of the plantation owner, which, strangely, paves the way for him to make meaningful connections with extended family he never knew existed. Undeterred by his father's absence, Nabil, through sheer will and a drive to understand his roots, re-draws the lines that define family and race.

IT'S A SHAME ABOUT RAY is an extraordinary and powerful memoir about family, love and the power of music.My dad, Ray, jabbed steroids into Beyoncé's butt when she lost her voice the day of her stadium show. My dad jumped into Sydney Harbour to save my brand-new red Power Ranger toy. My dad made his own jam, muesli and sourdough bread. My dad protected me from cockroaches, but he never, ever killed them. My dad once covered for so many of my demerit points that he lost his own licence and had to ride a bicycle to work for a year. My dad tended a worm farm in the compost bins in our back garden.Blackly funny and frequently devastating, this memoir traverses family, death, hope, love, survival, compassion and the deep relationship we can develop with music throughout our lives when nothing else is enough. It's a Shame About Ray asks how we shape new identities from old tragedies - and whether the answers might be hiding in the bestselling record of 2001.Several lifetimes in the making, Jonathan Seidler has created a lyrical and original interrogation of men and memories, a tracklist of songs of innocence and experience that beautifully unpick a life lived to the full - and sometimes spilling over the lip.My dad ate the whole apple: core, pips and all.'A brilliant and brutally raw tribute to family, survival and the indisputable profundity of noughties nu-metal.'TIM MINCHIN'Unbelievably poignant and ingenious. And punk as f•ck.'MEGAN WASHINGTON

The final completed novel by Ben BovaIntergalactic explorer, venture capitalist, and Casanova Sam Gunn may be gone, but his legacy lives on in his son, Sam Gunn Jr.In his first-ever adventure, Sam Gunn Jr. sets off to fulfill his father's left-behind mission of interplanetary enterprising. He soon learns his father's shoes are tough to fill, but he is up for the task. Junior takes a journey through the stars, falling in love with beautiful women and leaving his unique mark everywhere he ventures. Soon, however, this trip through the universe takes a dangerous turn when Junior lands on Saturn and learns about a recent scientific discovery that will change everything, possibly forever.Will he be able to save the universe and live up to his father's name? Take an unforgettable ride through space in master sci-fi author Ben Bova's exciting novel!

A moving memoir of a son's relationship with his survivor father and of their Eastern European journey through a family history of incalculable loss. Jason Sommer's father, Jay, is ninety-eight years old and losing his memory. More than seventy years after arriving in New York from WWII-torn Europe, he is forgetting the stories that defined his life, the life of his family, and the lives of millions of Jews who were affected by Nazi terror. Observing this loss, Jason vividly recalls the trip to Eastern Europe the two took together in 2001. As father and son travel from the town of Jay's birth to the labor camp from which he escaped, and to Auschwitz, where many in his family were lost, the stories Jason's father has told all his life come alive. So too do Jason's own memories of the way his father's past complicated and impacted Jason's own inner life. Shmuel's Bridge shows history through a double lens: the memories of a growing son's complex relationship with his father and the meditations of that son who, now grown, finds himself caring for a man losing all connection to a past that must not be forgotten.

The Iron Scar is both a literal journey by a father and son on the longest railway journey in the world, and a metaphoric pilgrimage of not just the author and his adult son, but all of us.

Rural West Cork, Ireland. Two Kids, Joseph and Paul, and their struggling, poet father, Fraser, are battling grief and poverty. When a letter arrives with a summons to Dublin and the promise of publication, it offers a chink of light - the hope of rescue. But Dublin is a long, wet and hungry way from West Cork in the mid-70s, especially when they have no money - just the clothes they stand up in and an old, battered suitcase. So begins an almost anti-roadtrip of flipsides and contradictions - dreams and nightmares, promises and disappointments, generosity and meanness, unconditional love and shocking neglect. In simple, beautiful, lyrical prose, James Yorkston's new novel takes us on that trip, as seen through the eyes of a brave and resourceful but poor and frightened child. It tells of the emptying, paralysing pain of grief and loss, tempered only by the hope of rescue and the redemption of parental love. It also tells of Fraser's love for his children's dead mother, as hidden within the battered suitcase is Fraser's heart-breaking collection of poems - The Book of the Gaels.

A self-involved academic struggling to cope with his own neurological problems, Jeff could hardly take care of himself, let alone a child with special needs, when his son, Ethan, was born. But despite multiple surgeries, hospitalizations, serious breathing and swallowing problems, hearing loss, and a challenging social environment in his first months of life, Ethan thrived—all the while teaching Jeff to take things as they came. And eight years later, the arrival from China of adopted baby sister Penelope took Jeff's on-the-job training to a whole new level.Ethan's instinct for fun proved the perfect complement to Jeff's determination to live life fully. He died too young, but not before he, Penelope, and their mother, Janet, taught Jeff that the true path to happiness was putting other people's needs before his own—and living in the moment rather than trying to control it.

'I Wish My Dad...': what a simple way to start a sentence. But those four words hold the power to heal wounds men may not even know they carry.From author, speaker, and social entrepreneur Romal Tune and his son, Jordan, comes this tour de force for fathers and sons about healing the unfinished business between them. What do sons wish they had received from their fathers? What might honest, healing conversations between fathers and sons look like?Tune was raised mostly without a father. He and his dad connected briefly when he was a teenager, and then had no relationship for decades. After years of inner work via therapy and faith, Tune realized that neither he nor his dad possessed what they needed to live up to each other's expectations. He began to wonder if other men also longed to have vulnerable conversations with their fathers--about good memories, about pain, and about what their relationship could still become.So he sat down with seventeen men of diverse ages, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds for'I Wish My Dad'conversations. In the pages of this book, he invites us into the room as the men unpack relationships with their fathers, learn to work through emotional pain, recount moments of tenderness and care, and describe risks they took to heal and connect with their fathers. Tune also offers us strategies and prompts for initiating our own'I Wish My Dad'conversations. And with no pretense, he and Jordan recount their own'I Wish My Dad'interview, which helped them chart the way toward a transformed relationship.I Wish My Dad helps fathers, and their sons move through the past to find deep connection in the present. The lessons in these pages will free us to have--and become--the kind of dad we wish for.

This unforgettable father and son story confronts the legacy of the Vietnam War across two generations: “an important book that should be read by every American” (Ron Kovic, Vietnam Veteran and author of Born on the Fourth of July). Craig McNamara came of age in the political tumult and upheaval of the late 60s. While Craig McNamara would grow up to take part in anti-war demonstrations, his father, Robert McNamara, served as John F. Kennedy's Secretary of Defense and the architect of the Vietnam War. This searching and revealing memoir offers an intimate picture of one father and son at pivotal periods in American history. Because Our Fathers Lied is more than a family story—it is a story about America. Before Robert McNamara joined Kennedy's cabinet, he was an executive who helped turn around Ford Motor Company. Known for his tremendous competence and professionalism, McNamara came to symbolize'the best and the brightest.'Craig, his youngest child and only son, struggled in his father's shadow. When he ultimately fails his draft board physical, Craig decides to travel by motorcycle across Central and South America, learning more about the art of agriculture and making what he defines as an honest living. By the book's conclusion, Craig McNamara is farming walnuts in Northern California and coming to terms with his father's legacy. Because Our Fathers Lied tells the story of the war from the perspective of a single, unforgettable American family.

Dark Crystal meets About a Boy in a race against the clock to save the world in this nostalgia-infused adventure! Jack Corman is failing at life. Jobless, jaded and on the'wrong'side of thirty, he's facing the threat of eviction from his London flat while reeling from the sudden death of his father, one-time film director Bob Corman. Back in the eighties, Bob poured his heart and soul into the creation of his 1986 puppet fantasy The Shadow Glass, a film Jack loved as a child, idolising its fox-like hero Dune. But The Shadow Glass flopped on release, deemed too scary for kids and too weird for adults, and Bob became a laughing stock, losing himself to booze and self-pity. Now, the film represents everything Jack hated about his father, and he lives with the fear that he'll end up a failure just like him. In the wake of Bob's death, Jack returns to his decaying home, a place creaking with movie memorabilia and painful memories. Then, during a freak thunderstorm, the puppets in the attic start talking. Tipped into a desperate real-world quest to save London from the more nefarious of his father's creations, Jack teams up with excitable fanboy Toby and spiky studio executive Amelia to navigate the labyrinth of his father's legacy while conjuring the hero within––and igniting a Shadow Glass resurgence that could, finally, do his father proud.

What does it mean to be a faith-filled dad to a son? There are no shortage of media stereotypes, masculine caricatures, and talk-show opinions, but do they offer any helpful or practical advice for father's today? Dear Son: Raising Faithful, Just, and Compassionate Men is a candid examination of fatherhood's joys and difficulties. Framed in a series of letters from two dads to their still-young sons, this book offers alternative perspectives on what faithful fatherhood looks like today. Instead of reinforcing sexist social dynamics and machismo attitudes, authors Hall and Underwood articulate and defend an understanding of masculinity that presents a father as a servant of God, a man of emotion, and someone striving to raise sons committed to fixing the injustices of the world rather than perpetuating them. Dear Son is a call to action for other fathers to deeply reflect—especially in light of their Christian faith—on what it means to have someone look at them and say, “Dad...” and to be able to respond with their whole heart.

Journey with a family through six months in'the valley of the shadow of death'as an aggressive lung cancer takes a beloved, firstborn son through the worst battle of his life. A Purple Heart recipient from the Afghan war, Scott's war with cancer will highlight and underline the survival on a distant battlefield only to die on a familiar home front. Share the thoughts and memories of a dad reflecting on the irony of the number forty, and read of his memories of his past that helped him endure one of the greatest tragedies of his life, the death of his son in his fortieth year. Witness the miracles in the midst of the misery as family and friends rally to help this family cope with an incurable disease. Note the sadness that comes when this father's father passes away at the height of his grandson's struggle for survival. Hear the glimmer of hope that comes from looking'beyond'to happier and fairer days coming in the blessed place called heaven. See the faith that sustains through insomnia and illness, heartache and heartbreak. Learn the precepts from the Bible that that will not only help one understand the process but understand the purpose of why someone so young passes away. This book is more about departing than dying; more about heaven than earth; and more about acceptance than bitterness.

Viewing our past through the eyes of maturity can reveal insights that our younger selves could not see. Lessons that eluded us become apparent. Encounters that once felt like misfortunes now become understood as valued parts of who we are. We realize what we've learned and what we have to teach. And we're encouraged to chart a future that is rich with purpose. In A Round of Golf with My Father, William Damon introduces us to the “life review.” This is a process of looking with clarity and curiosity at the paths we've traveled, examining our pasts in a frank yet positive manner, and using what we've learned to write purposeful next chapters for our lives. For Damon, that process began by uncovering the mysterious life of his father, whom he never met and never gave much thought to. What he discovered surprised him so greatly that he was moved to reassess the events of his own life, including the choices he made, the relationships he forged, and the career he pursued. Early in his life, Damon was led to believe that his father had been killed in World War II. But the man survived and went on to live a second life abroad. He married a French ballerina, started a new family, and forged a significant Foreign Service career. He also was an excellent golfer, a bittersweet revelation for Damon, who wishes that his father had been around to teach him the game. We follow Damon as he struggles to make sense of his father's contradictions and how his father, even though living a world apart, influenced Damon's own development in crucial ways. In his life review, Damon uses what he learned about his father to enhance his own newly emerging self-knowledge. Readers of this book may come away inspired to conduct informal life reviews for themselves. By uncovering and assembling the often overlooked puzzle pieces of their pasts, readers can seek present-day contentment and look with growing optimism to the years ahead.

Bringing together a unique collection of narrative accounts based on the lived experience of queer Chicano/Mexicano sons, this book explores fathers, fathering, and fatherhood. In many ways, the contributors reveal the significance of fathering and representations of fatherhood in the context of queer male sexuality and identity across generations, cultures, class, and Mexican immigrant and Mexican American families. They further reveal how father figures—godfathers, grandfathers, and others—may nurture and express love and hope for the queer young men in their extended family. Divided into six sections, the book addresses the complexity of father-queer son relationships; family dynamics; the impact of neurodiverse mental health issues; the erotic, unsafe, and taboo qualities of desire; encounters with absent, estranged or emotionally distant fathers; and a critical analysis of father and queer son relationships in Chicano/Latino literature and film.

A single moment has the power to change any life, forever. This is a story about what happens next. On 1st March 1999, Dom Frawley was a rural general practitioner, providing medical care to a few hundred families through a small cottage practice. He and his wife Maggie were due to deliver their fourth child any day. Dom worked daily with people at their most vulnerable: sick, powerless, and often fearful or distressed. His job was to help carry them through. By nightfall on 2nd March, Dom and Maggie were the ones needing help. Their newborn child was critically ill, flown by helicopter to an intensive care unit in Sydney. The baby's life rested in the hands of Dom's former colleagues. Malachy had a major heart defect, making him a ‘blue baby'. His family were forced to experience the medical system from the patient side, walking with Malachy in a prolonged struggle with severe disability. Fear for the future stalked enjoyment of the present. Drawing on Maggie's love, his passion for philosophy and innate optimism, Dom navigated a slow path to equilibrium. A deep father-son bond developed, enriching the lives of both. Malachy's heart disease inspired Maggie and Dom into activist roles with'HeartKids'. Their involvement with the cause risks dominating their lives. Meanwhile Malachy had taken up activism for the HeartKids movement and became an inspiration amongst his peers, and to many who crossed his path. The burden of heart disease brought a certain type of meaning and definition to our lives. All the while we had to balance the cause against the needs of three other children, and the demands of work and daily life. Then Malachy died. Life changed again. The carefully built framework of family life, Dom's beliefs and ability to cope came up against life's irresistible, final challenge. Malachy explores the bond of love between a parent and their child. It is a reminder of how treasured and important all children are. It is also a story about living with the agony of loss. The story touches what it means to love and be loved, to stare down hostile fate with a sense of humour, and to embrace life with courage and resilience.

A heartwarming series of stories and practical wisdom on entrepreneurship and wealth in the vein of Rich Dad, Poor Dad, written by a financially independent father for his ambitious son.Soon after he opened his vineyard for business many years ago, the Wealthy Gardener noticed a puzzling fact. Everyone wanted money, but only a few people managed to accumulate it. The reason, he realized, is that most people focus on short term gains instead of achieving lasting wealth.As he grew old and aware of his dwindling time on this Earth, the Wealthy Gardener began to share his hard-earned wisdom with the financially troubled in his community, patiently mentoring those who asked for his practical advice on the ways of prosperity.The parable of the Wealthy Gardener is far more than an admonishment to earn more or spend less; it is about timeless principles. As his lessons reveal, financial freedom is a means to power and control over our lives. Without money, we are subject to the demands and whims of others. With money, we are sheltered from the storm, and we can extend that shelter to our loved ones.Poised to become an intimate financial classic, The Wealthy Gardener will inspire readers to find their own noble purpose and relieve their money worries once and for all. No matter your income level, skillset, or unique economic disadvantages, the lessons in this book will show you the path forward. All you need is the will to work, the desire to succeed, and the motivation to learn.

Not all magicians go to schools of magic.Adam Binder has the Sight. It's a power that runs in his bloodline: the ability to see beyond this world and into another, a realm of magic populated by elves, gnomes, and spirits of every kind. But for much of Adam's life, that power has been a curse, hindering friendships, worrying his backwoods family, and fueling his abusive father's rage.Years after his brother, Bobby, had him committed to a psych ward, Adam is ready to come to grips with who he is, to live his life on his terms, to find love, and maybe even use his magic to do some good. Hoping to track down his missing father, Adam follows a trail of cursed artifacts to Denver, only to discover that an ancient and horrifying spirit has taken possession of Bobby's wife.It isn't long before Adam becomes the spirit's next target. To survive the confrontation, save his sister-in-law, and learn the truth about his father, Adam will have to risk bargaining with very dangerous beings … including his first love.

The renowned architect and his son sail from Genoa in search of Atlantis in this “intimate and insightful chronicle of exploration and revelation” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review).Renowned architect Renzo Piano—whose credits include the New Whitney Museum, the Pompidou Center,the New York Times Building, and others—and his son Carlo, a well-regarded journalist, set sail from Genoa one late summer day. They went looking for the lost city of Atlantis, which, according to legend, was built to harbor a perfect society. They sails across the Pacific, along the banks of the Thames and the Seine, reaching as far as Athens, San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, and Osaka Bay.Embarking not only on a life-changing journey but also on series of conversations that are humorous, irreverent, erudite, and always entertaining, Renzo and Carlo seek out the perfect city. Along the way, they reflect on their own relationship, on fathers and sons, on the idea of travel itself, and perhaps most notably on architecture, space, and the secret life of forms.