Mulling over Metrodad's post and comments the other day about paying the bills and/vs. pursuing your creative dreams reminded me of a show "This American Life" host Ira Glass did once about his father. Growing up, Ira knew his father, Barry Glass, only as an accountant. Only much later did he discover his dad had had a previous career as a radio announcer, which he gave up to provide a better, more stable living when he got a family. Does anyone know the show I'm talking about, because I can't find it?
I had no idea growing up, but my grandfather was a musician when he romanced my grandmother. How different his small town dry cleaning business and back patio guitar playing must've seemed through his end of the telescope.
[Barry Glass co-hosted the 1996 Father's Day edition of "This American Life," but they don't really discuss his own career much. The story about Sandra Tshing Loh's dad being the subject of a local rock band's songs is hilarious, though.
Also found during my search: Father's Day '98, where sex columnist Dan Savage talking about the difficulties of bonding with his adopted baby, an 18-yo guy in the projects interviews his fellow teen dads to ask if they're doing better than their own fathers did, and Laurence Wechsler's blunder involving his daughter and The Borrowers]
http://savvytraveler.publicradio.org/show/features/1998/19980912/glass.shtml maybe ? (No, I haven't listened to it)
If this search, barry+glass, doesn't help, I don't know what else will work. It looks like they offer their entire archives online.
[they do, but it's not there. must've been on another show... -ed.]
Yeah, you want part of "Act II" [of Accidental Documentaries] has this thing about his dad.
[bingo. thanks. "where's daddy? did he go bye-bye?" "ba-ba." "In the car?" "ca." -ed.]