May 25 – Vale Jack Pollard – A tribute to my dad

My dad died nine years ago today. He lived life large. He was funny, rude, opinionated and drove me crazy. He sat me down when I was 11 and made me read Hemingway, Steinbeck and all the authors he loved. I ran with the bulls in Pamplona aged 19 because of him. Jack Pollard was a journalist, author and workaholic. He simply loved to write. He wrote or edited around 110 books, and that doesn’t include the thousands of articles he wrote over his long career. Thank you Jack Pollard for being my Dad. He taught me that if you can spend your life being paid to do what you love then your life can be lived well. This quote reminds me of him:

To change one’s life:  Start immediately.  Do it flamboyantly.  No exceptions.  ~William James

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Pollard