How fathers can learn from their father's parenting style

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How fathers can learn from their father's parenting style

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So I wrote this book called A Good Man about my father shortly after he died. My mom died about 18 months before my dad. And I was really touched by not all the so-called great things my father did like creating the Peace Corps, the War on Poverty for President Johnson, programs like Head Start, Legal Services for the Poor, Job Corps, Vista. So many people told me he was great, but I was really touched by the people who told me he was good. So at first I thought that was something nice someone says to you when your dad dies. But then I realized through the repetition of that expression that they meant something different. And there are lots of so-called great people when the lights are on them like this or when they’re making business deals or on they’re on television. But when the lights are off, they don’t treat everybody the same. And my father had a unique ability to treat big shots like the President of the United States or cardinals or heads of corporations the same as he treated people that serve you lunch at the restaurant or help you through the airport lines. So I wrote the book because I realized I needed to find that source of joy he had. He was happily married 55 years. He raised 6 kids, all of them love him. He was creating the Peace Corps, Job Corps, and Head Start, and he still found time to spend daily interactions with God at mass and to see us kids. And I realized I needed to do that, to find that source of joy so I could be a better father, a better husband, have a better relationship with God, a better relationship with my friends. So that’s why I wrote it.

View Mark K. Shriver's video on How fathers can learn from their father's parenting style...

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Mark K. Shriver

Sr. VP, Save the Children

Mark K. Shriver is President of Save the Children Action Network, where he leads an effort to mobilize Americans to end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths globally and to ensure that every child in the U.S. has access to high-quality early childhood education. Shriver’s career fighting for social justice in advocacy and service organizations, as well as elected office, has focused on advancing the right of every child to a safe and vibrant childhood.

Shriver joined Save the Children in 2003, serving as Senior Vice President for U.S. Programs until 2013. In that capacity, he created and oversaw the agency’s early childhood education, literacy, health, and emergency preparedness and response programs in the United States.

Shriver was a member of the Maryland House of Delegates from 1994 to 2002. In 1988, he founded the innovative Choice Program, which serves delinquent and at-risk youth through intensive, community-based counseling.

Shriver received his B.A. from The College of the Holy Cross in 1986 and a Master’s in Public Administration from Harvard University in 1993. He resides in Bethesda, Maryland with his wife and their three children.

Shriver’s New York Times and Washington Post best-selling memoir, A Good Man: Rediscovering My Father, Sargent Shriver, was published in June 2012 by Henry Holt.

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