Being the Best Dad (FM)

I was very pleased to have two very interesting Dads on this show. Both of these men have careers that do not revolve around being an author, yet each of them felt compelled to write a book about being the best dad possible, and what impact one father had on his son.

My first guest is Tom McManus, who is a former NFL football player with the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is now owner and host of a Sports Talk Radio Show in Florida called "The Rumble with Tom McManus" and he recently published his first book "We'll Always Be Pals." He is also a father to three daughters.

This book was written as an ode to his father who passed away due to cancer while in his seventies. Tom shares his close relationship with his father and how his encouragement and guidance helped him play college and professional football. He also points out several lessons he learned from his father, which has molded him into the man and father he is today for his daughters.

Then Tom Sturges, an Executive VP and Head of Creative for Universal Music Publishing Group, and father to two boys 17 and 11, has written his first book entitled "Parking Lot Rules and 75 Other Ideas for Raising Amazing Children." On one side Tom has worked with some of the greatest songwriters of his generation...shortly after our interview I spoke to him and he had just attended Michael Jackson's Memorial. And on the other side Tom mentors at-risk kids at a south Los Angeles school with a learning program that develops creativity in children via song and lyric writing.

When he first became a dad he wanted to be the "best dad possible" and went in search of books to show him how to do just that. When he couldn't find one, he decided to ask parents, grandparents, sports legends and rock starts for their advice, ideas and tips to be the best father. This book is a compilation of "Rules" he had picked up and found effective over the years.

I think you will find them effective too.