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Father’s Day 2019
By
Published: Jun 10, 2019
Category:
Holiday
On the morning of Father’s Day, my daughter will be on a plane heading west. Hard to believe, but The Child is now the Young Adult, and it’s time for her to look at colleges. Do I feel slighted we won’t be together on Father’s Day? Not at all. She knows she is extravagantly loved. And that my 17 year commitment to her emotional security is more than my obligation — it’s a gift that gets mirrored back to me. (And then there’s the small problem of buying me anything, because there is nothing I want.) I’d bet the fathers in your lives would also like nothing better than to know that their kids realize how much they’re loved. But maybe it’s also nice to show up with a gift. Here are 29 suggestions.
THINGS
Mahogany Cigar Travel Humidifier
This small (9 x 6 x 4.5 inches), light (1 pound), inexpensive ($25) travel humidor holds 10 to 12 cigars and keeps them in smoke-me-now condition. It’s well made: real wood, with strong magnets built into the hinges to keep the lid tightly closed. For infrequent cigar smokers, this could easily take the place of a larger, more expensive humidor.
Memory Foam Back Support Cushion
Years at a desk take their toll on a back. This back cushion helps turn back the clock.
Moleskine Notebooks
Basquiat Moleskines? Yes, in limited editions. There’s still a leather-like cover, an elastic band, an inner pocket. The paper is acid-free. This will last.
Allbirds
There are many reasons for the rise of Allbirds. Start with ecological correctness: Allbirds are made from knit wool and castor bean oil. Add gender nullification: The two primary styles (lounger and runner) are unisex. Add simplicity of pricing: Every style is $95. And, most of all, sockless comfort.
The Filson Briefcase
“Might as well have the best.”
Timex Easy Reader Watch
Because it’s $10,000 cheaper than a watch that looks and works no better.
Zojirushi Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Mug
Hot stays hot. Cold stays cold.
HEALTH
Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C
Most of the Vitamin C in pills or capsules never reaches the bloodstream. Estimates of its absorption rate are less than 50%. Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C has a 90% absorption rate.
Anthelios Sunscreen with Mexoryl
What’s so great about Anthelios with Mexoryl? Dr. Vincent DeLeo, Chairman, Department of Dermatology, Founding Director, Skin of Color Center, St. Luke’s-Roosevelt and Beth Israel: “It produces a product which gives us almost perfect protection against sunshine.” Dr. Darrell Rigel, clinical professor of dermatology at New York University: Mexoryl “is the No. 1 individual ingredient in terms of protection from Ultraviolet A radiation.”
COFFEE
The Head Butler Great Coffee Kit
Mayorga Dark Roast Cubano coffee, professional coffee grinder, Melita carafe. A friend said, “I’ve never had better coffee.” This is why.
WINE
Oldman’s Guide to Outsmarting Wine
Mark Oldman has a clear head, a cool eye, an experienced palate — and a nose for a bargain.
BOOKS
Robert Caro: Working
Early on, a newspaper editor assigned Caro to investigative work. “But I don’t know anything about investigative reporting,” Caro said. The editor looked at Caro for a very long time. “Just remember,” he said. “Turn every page. Never assume anything. Turn every goddamned page.” He did. He still does. “Working” tells you how and why.
Poker as Life: 101 Lessons from the World’s Greatest Game
Poker is “brutal and primal.” You must play “with rapacity and toughness.” You may play with friends, but “you have no allies.” You must ask yourself: “Can I gut an opponent without flinching?”
Dylan by Schatzberg
Jerry Schatzberg was Bob Dylan’s favorite photographer. Proof: 262 pages of photos.
Viva la Repartee: Clever Comebacks and Witty Retorts
It sharpens the mind to read several hundred pages of great repartee — which Mark Twain defined as “something we think of twenty four hours too late.”
TRUE CRIME
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup
Elizabeth Holmes conned rich and famous men to invest in Theranos, her groundbreaking new technology to test blood. Secretaries of State George Shultz and Henry Kissinger, and General James “Mad Dog” Mattis served on its board. Why would a company with a purported mission to cure disease and save lives no actual scientists on its board? It would be like the board of Disney being composed entirely of porn producers. It made no sense. But it did: it was a scam.
Furious Hours: Murder, Fraud, and the Last Trial of Harper Lee
Two books in one — and both are sensationally good. One is about Reverend Willie Maxwell, a black preacher in Alabama, who heavily insured his wives and other relatives… and killed them for the insurance. The other is about Harper Lede, 16 years after she published “To Kill a Mockingbird,” needing a new book to write, finding it in Maxwell’s trial…. And not writing it. Here is the book Harper Lee wanted to write, and couldn’t. And a book about herself that the obsessively private Harper Lee wouldn’t have dreamed of writing. In 275 pages, Casey Cep has written both.
THRILLERS
Sunrise Highway
For a woman there can be nothing more terrifying than being pulled over on a back road by a cop and realizing his grinning face is the last you will ever see.
The Foreign Correspondent
The year is 1939. The head of the Resistance newspaper is assassinated. Alan Furst at his best.
MUSIC
Live in Europe
Voice raspy as a file, Otis Redding stood at center stage in a salmon-colored suit, shouting out his legendary songs to a crowd that had the good sense to worship him.
Buddy Guy: A Man and the Blues
Eric Clapton called him the “greatest blues guitarist ever.” On his first trip to England, Rod Stewart volunteered to be his valet. Jimi Hendrix said of him, “Heaven is lying at his feet while listening to him play guitar.”
SPORTS
Levels of the Game
This account of a single match between Arthur Ashe and Clark Graebner in the semifinals at the U.S. Open in Forest Hills is the best book ever written about tennis.
Go Like Hell: Ford, Ferrari, and Their Battle for Speed and Glory at Le Mans
An American-built car had not won a major European race since 1921. Ford would have to build the most technologically advanced racing car in history.
Johnny U: The Life and Times of John Unitas:
The greatest football player of the first half of the twentieth century. He had a job to do, and it was his responsibility to get it done.
LEADERSHIP
Churchill
This short book is not about not Churchill the God, but Churchill the extremely interesting man.
Buck
Buck Brannaman specializes in the improbable: skittish, poorly trained horses. But this is not a movie and a book about horses.
The Tender Bar:
A boy needs a father. If he doesn’t have one, he needs some kind of man in his life. Or men, because it can indeed take a village.
EXTRA COOL
Miles Davis: Ascenseur Pour L’Echafaud
Early work: the soundtrack to Louis Malle’s first movie. This gets ten extra points.
Keith Jarrett: The Koln Concert
‘The Koln Concert’ is, for 66 legendary minutes, completely improvised. Jarrett takes a simple figure and explores it, then starts again, a strategy that requires enormous courage and thinking at super-computer speed if the pianist hopes to avoid cliche — and Jarrett, astonishingly, does avoid every cliche. For another, it involves so much more than piano. Jarrett is really playing duets with himself; he hums, taps his foot and sighs, and the microphone gets it all
BONUS VIDEO
Everybody takes Daddy for granted. Just listen to the radio. Everything’s “Mama. Dear Mama. Always loved my Mama.” What’s the Daddy song? “Papa was a Rollin’ Stone.” Nobody gives a fuck. Nobody appreciates Daddy. Now, Mama’s got the roughest job…but at least people appreciate Mama. Every time Mama do something right, Mama gets a compliment… Nobody ever tells Daddy shit. Nobody says, “Hey, Daddy, thanks for knocking out this rent… Hey, Daddy, I sure love this hot water… Hey, Daddy, this is easy to read with all this light.” Think about everything that the real daddy does: pay the bills, buy the food, put a roof over your head. Everything you could ever ask for. Make your world a better, safer place. And what does Daddy get for all his work? The big piece of chicken. That’s all Daddy gets… the big piece of chicken.
