Bad Dad Update
The Fort Worth Weekly gives Dave Lieber a rave review on his latest book, “Bad Dad” telling more about the story covered in the book.
Lieber and 11 year old son Austin were having breakfast at a McDonald’s not far from their home. Austin finished and started acting out, nagging Dad to leave before he was ready. This behavior continued until Dad lost his temper, told his son he was leaving and and stormed out, telling Austin to walk the several block home. By the time he had second thoughts and returned, the cops had been called.
Dave was charged with two felony counts of criminal negligence for “abandoning and endangering a child and abandoning a child with intent.” He nearly lost his job, his sanity, and his good name as the story spread via the internet. As a reporter, Lieber had previously exposed corruption, ineptness, and embarrassing sexual scandals involving town leaders — including police chiefs, mayors, city council members, and cops on the beat, who jumped at an opportunity for revenge .
Read the full review and then email Dave for info on how to buy dave@yankeecowboy.com.
Father’s Day Launch for Lieber Book
Columnist-author-speaker Dave Lieber has authored a deeply personal narrative that explores parental responsibility, child-rearing practices and discipline, journalistic ethics, small-town corruption and retribution, and the moral consequences of being a public figure.
The Bad Dad book’s official release is June 19, Father’s Day, but it is for sale now at www.BadDadBook.com, where Chapter One is available for reading.
Lieber, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram Watchdog columnist, said the book is “a risky project.” “Some warned me not to do this,” he said. “But you know me. A great story is a great story — even if it is about the worst 10 minutes of a lifetime. And this could happen to anybody.”
On August 13, 2008 Lieber and his son, Austin, then 11, were eating breakfast in the small community of Watauga, Texas. They got into an argument, and to teach his son a lesson he ordered him to walk home and drove off without him. Bystanders called 911 and Lieber — a burr under the saddle of the police chief for his reporting — was arrested and charged on two felony counts.
The developments that followed make for compelling reading.
A Different Kind of “Dad” Book from Florida Columnist
Also just in time for Father’s Day is The Desperate Dad’s Guide to Getting Some by Jackie Papandrew of Largo, Fla. “Don’t worry — it’s G-rated,” she says. In this, and “Other Tales From a Slightly Soiled Marriage” (the subtitle), Papandrew explains that “choreplay is most definitely foreplay.”
Her fellow NSNC member Saralee Perel of Cape Cod, Mass., writes: “Jackie is not only the funniest writer I know; she’s also the most insightful, especially when it comes to subjects we all know so well and can relate to big time, like family. It’s a broad topic that Jackie nails down beautifully in this book.”
It’s a Kindle book available at Amazon.com. The award-winning humor writer has a nationally syndicated column which appears in publications in the U.S. and Canada and has built a following of more than 24,000 fans on Facebook.
And Yet Another Well-Timed Book from Jim Higley
Wrigley Field was the site chosen by Jim Higley for his debut as an author on June 1. Known as the “Bobblehead Dad” from his weekly parenting column in the Chicago Tribune’s Trib Local, Higley scheduled the official launch of Bobblehead Dad: 25 Life Lessons I Forgot I Knew for the same day as a Chicago Cubs-Houston Astros doubleheader.
Higley’s book is an inspirational account of his extraordinary journey through cancer, fatherhood and his transition “from the boardroom to the carpool.”
After being diagnosed with cancer at 44, Higley closed a 23-year career as a corporate executive and became a fulltime stay-at-home dad — a single father raising three children. In 2010 he won the title of “World’s Greatest Dad” in a national competition sponsored by “Man of the House” magazine.
Higley, who started a bobblehead collection as a kid in Nebraska, uses the term to describe being “in a constant state of motion and putting on a good face … but not really experiencing life.”
At the June 1 book launch, he arranged for a pre-game party to benefit Imerman Angels. He also is sharing proceeds from book sales with the local charity.
