For the better part of a decade, Rick Kaempfer wrote a weekly humor column about parenting under the title “Father Knows Nothing” for various different publications. During that time, the Chicago Headline Club twice nominated him for a prestigious Peter Lisagor Award for best newspaper-affiliated blog in Chicago. (And though Roger Ebert at the Sun Times came home with the award, Rick did get to put on a suit and drink ten dollar cocktails with the journalistic glitterati for a couple of evenings.)
In 2013, as his oldest son turned 18 years old, Rick reluctantly bid a fond farewell to Father Knows Nothing. He wanted to turn his decade of writing into a book. For the next eight months, Kaempfer waded through 400 old columns, wrote some new material, and wove these memorable stories into the narrative form you can purchase today.
To his readers his message is clear: “This is definitely NOT a how-to-book. More like a how-not-to-book.”
To his sons: “When it’s time for therapy, just hand this book to your shrink. It will save you a lot of time and money.”
It’s certainly not their fault that Father Knows Nothing.
