Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son by Richie Jackson

Book I Haven't Read Yet: Gay Like Me: A Father Writes to His Son by Richie Jackson

Why I Haven't Read It: I wish I could read nonstop in the wee hours, but when I don't sleep my brain gets all wonky. Plus, I still haven't finished the book I'm currently reading, and I have a new policy to go forth and finish one book before starting the next. (We'll see how long that lasts.)

Should You Read It? Yes.

This book is already tugging at my heart, and I don't even have it in front of me. In an interview with Town and Country mag, author Richie Jackson talks about the need to share with his son "what it means to be a gay man and what it takes to be a gay man in America." As his gay son prepared to head off to college, Jackson found it imperative to be vulnerable, and to open up painful wounds of memories, mistakes, fears and moments - moments like Jackson's 4th grade teacher calling him a word that rhymes with maggot.

He's one of us, awake before the rest of the house has risen, opting to swap his computer for pencil and paper. "...At 5am every day , I hand wrote my love letter to being gay, to being a parent, to being in love."

As Jackson says in the close of that interview, "All parents should do this for their child as they set out into this tumultuous, wonderous world.

Thank you for the inspiration, Richie.

Comments

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