Legendarybud
11/17/2011, 09:49 PM
It is with pleasure that I announce that on January 12, 2012, some 47 letters of Bud Wilkinson written to his son Jay while he was in college in the 60’s, and most of which have never before been published, will be released as a book titled Dear Jay, Love Dad. Each letter is accompanied by a commentary by Jay in which he helps clarify the context in which it was written. This is indeed a very special book because while it contains some of Bud’s comments about his last years as a coach, most of the later letters, written while Jay is in graduate school at the Episcopal Theological Seminary, discuss his feelings on politics, religion, and history. The early letters are filled with compassion, encouragement, and advice to a son, who many miles away from home for the first time, is often homesick, discouraged with football practice, and wondering if he should have stayed and played for OU, but Bud’s words of love and assurance help him adjust and become a highly successful student and an All-American player.. His expressions of hope and faith are as true today as they were some 50 years ago. More than anything, it teaches all of us how we can better communicate with our sons and daughters who are sometimes far away. The book can be preordered for Christmas giving by going to Amazon. Com and typing in the name of the book, Dear Jay, Love Dad. Hit Go and the preorder page pops up which also includes a picture of the book. Click on the book, and a larger image appears with a complete synopsis and all the testimonial letters. It can also be preordered through Barnes and Noble (BN.com)
I have been directly involved with the writing of this book since I first met Jay and his wife, Rita, in 2003 when Jay spoke at a program I chaired. In his speech he talked about the letters, a few having been previously published in Jay’s first book. After finally reading all of them in 2009, I urged him to publish. Since I had taught English, Jay asked me to help as an early editor. So we began. At first, there were many discussions on the format of the book and actual writing didn’t begin until the summer of 2010. Because we live in different cities and rarely saw each other during this entire process, Jay would write during the day and send me his work that night. I would edit what he had written and return it the next day. When we finished, Jay submitted it to the University of Oklahoma Press. You can imagine our elation when we learned it was accepted. In his acknowledgments, Jay was kind enough to call me the architect of the project, but this is very much his book. As a young college student, he had the good sense to somehow hang on to these letters for fifty years and then through perseverance to turn the letters into a book If he had not, we would have missed out on learning much about an extraordinary man and a most loving father.
I have been directly involved with the writing of this book since I first met Jay and his wife, Rita, in 2003 when Jay spoke at a program I chaired. In his speech he talked about the letters, a few having been previously published in Jay’s first book. After finally reading all of them in 2009, I urged him to publish. Since I had taught English, Jay asked me to help as an early editor. So we began. At first, there were many discussions on the format of the book and actual writing didn’t begin until the summer of 2010. Because we live in different cities and rarely saw each other during this entire process, Jay would write during the day and send me his work that night. I would edit what he had written and return it the next day. When we finished, Jay submitted it to the University of Oklahoma Press. You can imagine our elation when we learned it was accepted. In his acknowledgments, Jay was kind enough to call me the architect of the project, but this is very much his book. As a young college student, he had the good sense to somehow hang on to these letters for fifty years and then through perseverance to turn the letters into a book If he had not, we would have missed out on learning much about an extraordinary man and a most loving father.