"I’d be interested to know what the people were like who raised. One of my daughters put a device on my cell phone so I can find out where he is when he’s wandering around. Now my 14-year-old grandson is old enough to wander around with a friend, although they often end up in the NBA merchandise store. I don't think they have that same kind of home base feeling, but my grandsons who live in semi-rural New Jersey love coming to the city. I like to think of them as growing up in Kansas City, but they happened to live here.ĭo your grandchildren think of themselves as Village kids, in the same sense that you tried to make your children think they were Kansas City kids? An example would be, "You must always uphold the noble name of our family," or, "We’re miserable because your father deserted us." I always thought that even though we lived in the Village, we had a white picket fence going around the house metaphorically, not literally. I think if you talk to people about their childhoods, a theme sort of emerges. You've characterized the theme of your family as, “Despite all the evidence to the contrary, you are being raised in Kansas City.” In your book, Messages From My Father, you wrote that all families have themes.
#Calvin fence kansas city cracked#
"Being a grandparent is the one thing in life that’s everything it’s cracked up to be." When I have them by myself, I always say, "It’s chocolate for breakfast if you like, guys.” But they don’t seem to take advantage of that. You found that to be true? I’m only a year in as a grandfather, but so far, so good.ĭo you ever feel guilty about being the spoiling grandfather and want to take a stand and impose some discipline?ĭefinitely not. Someone told me before I was a grandfather that being a grandparent is the one thing in life that’s everything it’s cracked up to be, and I think that’s sort of true. But as a grandfather, it seems that’s what I’m supposed to do. I assume my job is to spoil them, and as a father, I didn’t feel that was my responsibility. We have a rule in our family called "the grandparent rule": when you’re with your grandfather, there are no rules. Let me start with the big question: what do you think are the differences between fathering and grandfathering? This interview has been condensed and edited. Dickson, a father (of editor Ej Dickson) and new grandpa himself, spoke with Trillin about being an iconic family man, the best advice he ever got from his father, raising daughters in the age of #MeToo, and what, exactly, he thinks of our President's parenting style. And while Trillin is not necessarily inclined to dispense parenting advice - aside from noting that none of his progeny has, as he put it to, “done serious jail time" - his observations on navigating the responsibilities of fatherhood and grandfatherhood provide a singular guide to those of us who realize we are only guessing. Trillin is also known for being a family man (also the title of one of his most famous books) he is the father of two daughters, Abigail and Sarah, who have inspired much of his work, and a grandfather of four. As a satirist, he has pilloried generations of American politicians of all stripes as a travel and food writer, he has written hilariously about Buffalo wings, parking in New York City, and the French tradition of bullfighting in swimming pools. Over the past 60 years, Trillin has published hundreds of articles, essays, and books as a journalist, novelist, chronicler of Americana, memoirist, humorist, doggerel poet, and general “ grump for the ages." While he has covered many serious topics with unique insight (he came to prominence in 1963, reporting for the New Yorker on the integration of the University of Georgia), he is probably most admired for his understated, incisive humor. If you've never read Calvin Trillin, you're really missing out on something - specifically, the personal embarrassment suffered by laughing out loud in public.
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