If you want the Big Shield ebook, it’s only 99 cents.
This weekend, if you want the Father of Mine ebook, it’s zero cents.
As of 12:00 a.m. on Saturday, Pacific time, the Father of Mine ebook will be free for 48 hours. It’s my way of remembering my dad on his birthday, September 20. He was born in 1921, six years after his father came to America from Italy.
He died in July 1998. I still think about him, pretty much every day. And especially during football season.
He was a compulsive gambler, who became a bookie. (He hated the Steelers, because the locals typically bet with their hearts. And, in the ‘70s, the Steelers routinely covered the spread.) When he wasn’t working (and he worked every day of the year, except the day before and after the MLB All-Star Game), he’d still gamble — two nights per week at a floating craps game in my hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia.
My mother kept the family’s financial situation from imploding, somehow.
It’s one of the reasons I have no desire to bet. It’s one of the reasons I fear that the ongoing normalization, and ease, of gambling is going to create problems for many people, especially young men who fall for the idea that they can win. The fact that the major sportsbooks are billion-dollar companies should be all the evidence anyone needs to conclude otherwise, but good luck convincing a kid who finally turned 21 and can download the apps and use them constantly to see it that way.
Father of Mine was inspired by the exploits of the local crew. He’d probably be pissed at me for writing it. And I’d love nothing more than five minutes with him to find out.
So click the link this weekend and claim a free copy of the book. No strings attached. No money spent.
