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[Error: unknown template qotd]I have no memories at all of my grandfathers; they both died long before I was born. My uncle Oscar was a surrogate grandfather in many ways, as he was almost 50 when I was born and had the courtly, gentlemanly demeanor of an earlier age.
As for my father - he married late and had me later; he was 37 when I was born, which was almost unheard of in 1960, and he went out of his way to share childcare duties while Mum recovered from a difficult childbirth. He and I looked much alike, as anyone who's seen pictures of Dad knows. We have the same sense of humor, the same eye color and shape, the same mild deafness (for different reasons) and, as I'm discovering now that I'm working out regularly, the same mesomorphic build.
My memories of him are more scattered than I'd like since he died at only 51 (he was a heavy smoker and a binge dieter/exerciser; one of the reasons I joined Planet Fitness in the first place was to avoid the heart attack that killed him). A few:
- watching the second season premiere of Star Trek sitting on his lap, and continually asking, "Daddy, who's the man with the funny ears?"
- getting caught in the rain while vacationing in Niagara Falls and running back to our hotel well before Mum and the dog, and laughing hysterically at how wet they were.
- being taught to drive a nail and use an acetylene torch for a science fair project.
- watching him play the ukelele while the dog danced on his hind legs.
- the time Mum was in the hospital for longer than expected, and how hard he tried to cook even though he couldn't follow a recipe to save his life.
- lighting his cigarette lighter in a darkly lit restaurant so we could read the menu.
But the single most important thing he did for me was when I was recovering from surgery at the age of 12. I couldn't leave the house and was bored out of my mind, so he stopped at the library and checked out every book they had by Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. When I'd read them all, a selection of Heinlein's juveniles mysteriously appeared in the dining room...and I read those, two. And after I started watching Star Trek again, he brought me one of the James Blish paperback adaptations because he knew I loved the show, and loved science fiction and fantasy.
He literally changed my life. Those books were why I became an SF fan, why I founded my college SF club, why I know most of my close friends, and why I ultimately found my way to the SCA. I would be a much, much different person if he hadn't thought his little girl would enjoy The Caves of Steel and The Martian Chronicles.
It wasn't until much, much later that I learned that *he* had loved SF and fantasy in his youth, and had had planned to attend the 1960 Worldcon in Pittsburgh. He ended up staying home because I was only a few weeks old, and Mum was still weak enough from giving birth that he didn't feel right leaving us to go have fun.
I thought of him when I went to my first Worldcon in 1980, and my next in 1989, and my next in 2004. He never got to see organized fandom, or be in it, because his family came first.
He was a good, good man. I miss him.
As for my father - he married late and had me later; he was 37 when I was born, which was almost unheard of in 1960, and he went out of his way to share childcare duties while Mum recovered from a difficult childbirth. He and I looked much alike, as anyone who's seen pictures of Dad knows. We have the same sense of humor, the same eye color and shape, the same mild deafness (for different reasons) and, as I'm discovering now that I'm working out regularly, the same mesomorphic build.
My memories of him are more scattered than I'd like since he died at only 51 (he was a heavy smoker and a binge dieter/exerciser; one of the reasons I joined Planet Fitness in the first place was to avoid the heart attack that killed him). A few:
- watching the second season premiere of Star Trek sitting on his lap, and continually asking, "Daddy, who's the man with the funny ears?"
- getting caught in the rain while vacationing in Niagara Falls and running back to our hotel well before Mum and the dog, and laughing hysterically at how wet they were.
- being taught to drive a nail and use an acetylene torch for a science fair project.
- watching him play the ukelele while the dog danced on his hind legs.
- the time Mum was in the hospital for longer than expected, and how hard he tried to cook even though he couldn't follow a recipe to save his life.
- lighting his cigarette lighter in a darkly lit restaurant so we could read the menu.
But the single most important thing he did for me was when I was recovering from surgery at the age of 12. I couldn't leave the house and was bored out of my mind, so he stopped at the library and checked out every book they had by Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury. When I'd read them all, a selection of Heinlein's juveniles mysteriously appeared in the dining room...and I read those, two. And after I started watching Star Trek again, he brought me one of the James Blish paperback adaptations because he knew I loved the show, and loved science fiction and fantasy.
He literally changed my life. Those books were why I became an SF fan, why I founded my college SF club, why I know most of my close friends, and why I ultimately found my way to the SCA. I would be a much, much different person if he hadn't thought his little girl would enjoy The Caves of Steel and The Martian Chronicles.
It wasn't until much, much later that I learned that *he* had loved SF and fantasy in his youth, and had had planned to attend the 1960 Worldcon in Pittsburgh. He ended up staying home because I was only a few weeks old, and Mum was still weak enough from giving birth that he didn't feel right leaving us to go have fun.
I thought of him when I went to my first Worldcon in 1980, and my next in 1989, and my next in 2004. He never got to see organized fandom, or be in it, because his family came first.
He was a good, good man. I miss him.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-21 03:15 am (UTC)From:My Dad was a Trekkie, too. I'm a bit younger than you are, so my earliest memories are from season 3 :)
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Date: 2010-06-21 12:12 pm (UTC)From:These days I scarf his alternate histories like Harry Turtledove, S.M. Stirling, and Eric Flint.
Yay for dads and sci-fi!