WE FISH: THE JOURNEY TO FATHERHOOD

WE FISH: THE JOURNEY TO FATHERHOOD
AUTHORS: Jack L. Daniel, Ph.D. and Omari C. Daniel, Ph.D.
ISBN: O-8229-5891-0
PUBLISHER: University of Pittsburgh Press (www.pitt-edu/ press)


WE FISH

My grandfather stays with my father
because he fishes.
Wading these motherly banks
of the Juniata evokes memory.
Each cast, each fish,
keeps the memory of his father fresh.
This is how we beat death.

I know if Alzheimer’s ever claims my
father; as it did his, all I have to do
is fish, I will fish the Juniata, and
let the memories of my father flow
through me. Fishing for channel cats,
doing the Juniata float, and sneaking
down the back side of the church
to fish on Sundays, I will fish
because we fish, and they fished, and
I know my father can never leave me,
if I just fish.

Mr. Omari C. Daniel, Ph.D.
Excerpted from Chapter 13: We Fish
We Fish: The Journey To Fatherhood
Page 185


It is an unapologetically honest and soulful masterpiece. It is We Fish: The Journey To Fatherhood authored by Jack L. Daniel, Ph.D. and Omari C. Daniel, Ph.D. Dr. Jack L. Daniel is the Vice Provost for Undergraduate Studies and Professor of Communications at the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Dr. Omari C. Daniel is a poet and educator in the Montgomery County Public Schools in suburban Washington, D.C. They are Father and Son.

We Fish: The Journey To Fatherhood is more than a collaborative literary undertaking between Father and Son. Dr. Jack L. Daniel and Dr. Omari C. Daniel represent two generations of “Daniel Men” for whom the ritual of fishing became their link to the past, the present and the future. The time spent together fishing deepened their relationship as Father and Son and their understanding of one another as Men.

Dr. Jack L. Daniel’s poignant accounts of his journey from childhood to manhood, depiction of the cluster of strong male role models that influenced and surrounded him which consisted of his Father, his Uncles Nash and Bill and men in his church and in his neighborhood, the joys and challenges of shaping the mind and soul of his son, and the fishing trips which became both a balm and a ritual for multiple generations of “Daniel Men” and their extended family are dramatically punctuated by Dr. Omari C. Daniel’s repertoire of heartstring-tugging poems.

Through We Fish: The Journey To Fatherhood, two generations of “Daniel Men” are forcing us to come to grips with the fact that we must move with all deliberate speed to provide “life lines” to our young males. The good news is that two generations of “Daniel Men”, through We Fish: The Journey To Fatherhood, are providing us with some of the tools that we will need to get the job done.

Reviewed By: D.A. Sears, Managing Editor - IN SEARCH OF FATHERHOOD(R)
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