EVERYONE HAS A FATHER
PAPA MY FATHER-a celebration of dads
-by Leo Buscaglia.
In the introduction of this book, it had an interesting story of a teacher and a pupil. The class was made up of six children and a teacher in the educational system for disabled children. The author refers to the disability as ’’mildly retarded’’ fourth graders, not the description I would have used but never the less used.
This teacher after carefully reading a story about a duck that had no father, said to a student ’’did the duck have a father?’’ to see if they were listening. The small, shy girl continuously replied, ’’yes’’. It at first set the teacher back but as she repeatedly asked and the girl would answer ’’yes’’, she grew angry. Finally the teacher asked, ’’why if the book said the duck had no father, why would you insist it did?’’ The little girls answer was wisely put- ’’but teacher- everyone has a father!’’
The author commented on the inevitable, that no matter what dead, alive, good, bad, known or unknown everyone indeed had a father. I found this little story cute but upsetting because I had tried so hard for years to avoid the knowledge my father was real and yet this little girl brought reality right smack in my face, or rather, the author directed this through his book.
Maybe not quite the book for me to read but at the time I bought it, I was very much drawn to the bold letters on it’s cover. Maybe it was curiosity that there were fathers, unlike mine, that existed and made their children happy and proud of them. Envy, jealousy, who knows what compelled me to purchase this particular book. But I must say, I did enjoy it and many times re-read some of it’s passages and quotes. Maybe a replacement for the empty void of removing my own father from my life.
The book has many quotes from famous people such as John Ritter, Tyne Daly, P. G. Woodhouse, Mark Twain, etc. and their views on their fathers as well as the story behind Leo Buscaglia’s own father. With only 125 pages, it’s not a reading book but rather a conversation piece (a nice book for the coffee table).
My hat goes off to Mr. Buscaglia for a great book and for his never ending love for his own father and hope for others struggling for the same.
’’It’s not enough to have lived. We should be determined to live for something. May I suggest that it be creating joy for others, sharing what we have for the betterment of person-kind, bringing hope to the lost and love to the lonely.’’
Leo F. Buscaglia 1924-1998