We Fish: The Journey To Fatherhood [Hardcover]

Jack L. Daniel (Author), Omari C. Daniel (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 2003

We Fish is  the  tale of a father and son's shared dialogue in poetry and in prose, memoir and reflection, as they delight in their time spent fishing while considering the universal challenge of raising good children. Their story and their lesson have the power to teach today's young African American men about friendship, family, and trust; and the potential to save a generation from the dangers of the modern world and from themselves.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“An excellent and delightful autobiography, a book any man, white or black, who is concerned about being a father and who likes to fish, write poetry, or hunt could learn from. Like Langston Hughes’s “The Big Sea’, Dr. Daniel’s book captures one with its humor, honesty, and depth of understanding.” --African American Review

From the Inside Flap

I was too young to remember the story

so I must sit silent while the old men

tell their carp stories around the night fire

watch their age stand still

as they relive their battles.

-from "The Carp"

Throughout his life-as an academic and a professional, as a husband and a father, and as an African American male-Jack Daniel waged his share of battles.

Fishing was always his primary solace. At first, young Jack used the beds and banks of the Juniata River to escape the harshness of a two-bedroom tenement in the projects of Johnstown, Pennsylvania. During the summers, he would also fish small creeks and ponds as relief from the tedious work "down home" on his grandparents' Virginia farm. In time, his expertise grew, as did his interest, and he began sharing a fishing camp with other Daniel men-his ribald uncles, cousins, and other relations-in what became a family tradition that would eventually span four generations. Jack was exposed to a variety of male role models, especially his two hero uncles, William and Nash, who worked hard, drank hard, and generally set out to "live the life." And his lifelong passion-his "fever" in his son Omari's words-presented him with unexpected insights into work, life, and parenting.

Jack, by his own admission, was a tough father. He raised Omari to work beyond his own expectations and the standards educators and society placed on young black males. Jack, as an administrator at a major metropolitan university, pushed his son academically and morally. He did not approve of Omari's favorite music, the message or the language, and he did not tolerate mediocrity. Like most adolescents, Omari felt his father was too demanding, too quick to punish, with too little regard for his own feelings.

That relationship changed when they were on the Juniata River, casting for bass and wading in the swift currents. When Omari first began fishing, Jack would bind their waists together as a safety precaution. Omari, inevitably, would fall under the water's incessant tug, and Jack would pull him up. Gradually, the rope they used as a lifeline took on a deeper, metaphoric meaning.

Yet it wasn't until Omari began writing poetry that Jack truly understood the importance of those fishing trips. In reading his son's powerful words, he gained insight into the intergenerational bond that he had created, not only with Omari, but with his own father-who would eventually join them on the banks of the Juniata River-and with the other men in their close-knit, family community.

We Fish is their tale-a father and son's shared dialogue in poetry and in prose, memoir and reflection, as they delight in their time spent fishing while considering the universal challenge of raising good children. Their story and their lesson have the power to teach today's young African American men about friendship, family, and trust; and the potential to save a generation from the dangers of the modern world and from themselves.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press; 1 edition (March 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0822941988
• ISBN-13: 978-0822941989
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,076,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fatherhood Rediscovered, June 5, 2004

By 

slbill "slbill" (Morton, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: We Fish: The Journey To Fatherhood (Hardcover)

Fathers are important. This is really the central theme of "We Fish." Jack Daniel reflects back on how his father shaped his life and how he helped shape his son.
Both good and bad, men have a significant role in the raising of children, especially boys. This is sometimes downplayed in our society. It should, in fact, be celebrated.
Fathers and sons need to connect. In the Daniel family, they connect through their fishing trips. Fishing outsdie of their family group is "just fishing." This is opposed to when they are together when it becomes "the fever."