The Fun Master

A Memoir

Jeff Seitzer

• Publisher: SparkPress
• Year: 2022
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781684631506
• Subtopic: Social Science Biographies
• Index: Social Sciences

A self-involved academic struggling to cope with his own neurological problems, Jeff could hardly take care of himself, let alone a child with special needs, when his son, Ethan, was born. But despite multiple surgeries, hospitalizations, serious breathing and swallowing problems, hearing loss, and a challenging social environment in his first months of life, Ethan thrived—all the while teaching Jeff to take things as they came. And eight years later, the arrival from China of adopted baby sister Penelope took Jeff's on-the-job training to a whole new level.

Ethan's instinct for fun proved the perfect complement to Jeff's determination to live life fully. He died too young, but not before he, Penelope, and their mother, Janet, taught Jeff that the true path to happiness was putting other people's needs before his own—and living in the moment rather than trying to control it.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• 1. My Writing Assignment
• 2. Battlefield Promotion
• 3. Crisis du Jour
• 4. The Tower of Babble
• 5. Who Needs Ted?
• 6. Teeter-Tottering through Life
• 7. In-Flight Safety Instructions
• 8. Cat without a Name, Cell without a Number
• 9. Mr. Rogers to the Rescue
• 10. Please, No Thank You, Please!
• 11. The Feet of Dorian Gray
• 12. Summer of Silence
• 13. The Petite Man’s Guide to Parenting
• 14. Here’s to Friends!
• 15. Alligator Tales
• 16. Thank You, Bàba
• 17. Grand Central Station
• 18. Tgif
• 19. Hocus-Pocus
• 20. A Par before Dying
• 21. The Sing Sing Thing
• 22. The Long Goodbye
• 23. Thanks for the Memories
• Afterword: Goodbye Letter to Ethan
• Acknowledgments
• About the Author
• Selected Titles from Sparkpress