My decision to edit and publish Our Father, Father to the Fatherless began with a story I wrote for the Toronto Star called Lost Boys. It centered around the murder of two Toronto teenagers, Amon Beckles  18 and Jamal Hemmings  17,  their lives snuffed out at the end of  a gun barrel, one shot astonishingly on church steps during the other's funeral service.

In researching the story I discovered both boys were fatherless, also that the vast majority of young men shot, murdered or incarcerated due to gang and gun violence in Toronto, came from homes where fathers were absent.

For that article I interviewed Pastor Bruce Smith who was at the time involved in a program to help at risk youth develop self esteem at a low income housing complex in Toronto’s  east end called Sparrow Way. Bruce was introduced to me by Phil Kershaw, a marketing expert with whom I had worked.

The two asked me to help them publish a book about the issue of fatherlessness using Bruce’s story of growing up without a father in segregated Texas as the vehicle. They knew I had self published before.  I agreed to join the team.

It has been quite the journey. Both Phil and Bruce are Christian evangelicals. I am not, however we are avid believers that fatherlessness is a serious problem facing society. 

We worked long hours to get Our Father to the Fatherless to you. I hope you enjoy the book and that it helps to focus attention on finding ways to help our men become the best fathers they can possibly be.