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Bad Dad
What happens when the worst 10 minutes of your life go viral and are shared with the world? The true story of a Texas newspaper columnist who investigates the shenanigans of a small-town police department — then pays a price. At a local restaurant one day, he orders his misbehaving son, 11, to walk home. When the father returns, police are waiting. The dad is arrested and charged with two felonies. The world weighs in about whether he’s a bad dad.
An entertaining and thought-provoking book that explores -- with brutal honesty -- parental responsibility, child-rearing practices and discipline, journalistic ethics, small-town corruption and retribution, and the moral consequence of being a public figure.
"As a parent, Dave Lieber made a mistake in judgment. From that experience he has created an eye-opening book. There are deep lessons to be learned here." -- Wil Haygood, prize-winning American biographer.
An entertaining and thought-provoking book that explores -- with brutal honesty -- parental responsibility, child-rearing practices and discipline, journalistic ethics, small-town corruption and retribution, and the moral consequence of being a public figure.
"As a parent, Dave Lieber made a mistake in judgment. From that experience he has created an eye-opening book. There are deep lessons to be learned here." -- Wil Haygood, prize-winning American biographer.
192 pages, Nook
First published April 25, 2011
2 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Dave Lieber
12 books4 followersDave Lieber is the investigative "Watchdog" columnist for The Dallas Morning News.
He's also a top storytelling expert for business strategies.
His newest book is called SEARCHING FOR PEROT - My Journey to Discover Texas' Top Family. It's the first biography of Ross Perot Sr. and his family in 25 years. It's a hit play, too. Learn more at the official website, https//:www.PerotBook.com.
His previous book (and award-winning play) is called AMON! The Ultimate Texan, about Amon Carter, AKA Mr. Fort Worth. Learn more at https://www.AmonPlay.com.
Dave's previous books include Dave Lieber's Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong and The Dog of My Nightmares: Stories by Texas Columnist Dave Lieber. Learn more at https://www.DaveLieber.org.
He's also a top storytelling expert for business strategies.
His newest book is called SEARCHING FOR PEROT - My Journey to Discover Texas' Top Family. It's the first biography of Ross Perot Sr. and his family in 25 years. It's a hit play, too. Learn more at the official website, https//:www.PerotBook.com.
His previous book (and award-winning play) is called AMON! The Ultimate Texan, about Amon Carter, AKA Mr. Fort Worth. Learn more at https://www.AmonPlay.com.
Dave's previous books include Dave Lieber's Watchdog Nation: Bite Back When Businesses and Scammers Do You Wrong and The Dog of My Nightmares: Stories by Texas Columnist Dave Lieber. Learn more at https://www.DaveLieber.org.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 28, 2012
Dave Lieber thought his claim to fame was his regular Star-Telegram Watch Dog column that outed the "bad" (corrupt/incompetent) public servants of the Tarrant County communities which comprised his readership. But that all changed abruptly with a parenting decision he made in a local McDonald's one summer morning in 2008.
The morning opened with the promise of a good day and a little father/youngest son bonding time over breakfast at the neighborhood McDonald's. Eleven year old Austin was all for going and wolfing down his pancakes, but considerably less excited about waiting for dad to finish his coffee and read the paper.
Austin's tactics included raising his voice and badgering his dad to leave. Dave's tactics included telling his son to lower his voice, sit at another table and wait, and finally telling Austin to walk home and think about his behavior in the restaurant. Dave abruptly got up and went to the parking lot, locking the car doors once he is inside. A confused Austin hurries after him, grabbing the car door handle, but is left standing alone in the parking lot watching his dad drive away.
Awkward, you think? Certainly embarrassing, but who would have thought the event would go viral, with people literally all over the United States sitting in judgement, offering up sometimes very harsh assessments of Dave's parenting skills?
There are a couple of key factors that result in this unlikely outcome. Remember, Dave writes a Watch Dog column. One of the communities which has been mentioned in less than stellar terms is Watauga. The aforementioned McDonald's is in Watauga, just down the street from the Police Dept. Some of those columns referenced the Watauga Police Department. And at least one of the other McDonald's patrons called 911 to report that a child had been abandoned in the parking lot. By the time Dave returns to the parking lot, some 15 minutes later, two squad cars are there and officers are interviewing the witnesses. The police are well aware that they have Dave Lieber in a very awkward position.
Dave, with Austin's permission, tells the story of this moment that spiraled into a family- threatening, job-threatening nightmare which seemed like it would never end. There were endless articles, tv news reports, both locally and nationally, and the inevitable comments, both positive and negative, on various blogs.
Though saddled with two felony charges and the possibility of a trial in a Tarrant County Courthouse that has also received mention in his Watch Dog columns, Dave tells this story with his trademark humor and a remarkably objective look at his culpability for his own behavior. Dave warns that we all need to live and behave as if the camera is always rolling, because someone is more than likely watching at the moment that we would most want to remain a secret. At last he knows how those who have been exposed in his columns must feel.
The book is available online at BadDadBook.com or on Amazon. It's a quick and enjoyable read, and a word to the wise for all you parents out there!
The morning opened with the promise of a good day and a little father/youngest son bonding time over breakfast at the neighborhood McDonald's. Eleven year old Austin was all for going and wolfing down his pancakes, but considerably less excited about waiting for dad to finish his coffee and read the paper.
Austin's tactics included raising his voice and badgering his dad to leave. Dave's tactics included telling his son to lower his voice, sit at another table and wait, and finally telling Austin to walk home and think about his behavior in the restaurant. Dave abruptly got up and went to the parking lot, locking the car doors once he is inside. A confused Austin hurries after him, grabbing the car door handle, but is left standing alone in the parking lot watching his dad drive away.
Awkward, you think? Certainly embarrassing, but who would have thought the event would go viral, with people literally all over the United States sitting in judgement, offering up sometimes very harsh assessments of Dave's parenting skills?
There are a couple of key factors that result in this unlikely outcome. Remember, Dave writes a Watch Dog column. One of the communities which has been mentioned in less than stellar terms is Watauga. The aforementioned McDonald's is in Watauga, just down the street from the Police Dept. Some of those columns referenced the Watauga Police Department. And at least one of the other McDonald's patrons called 911 to report that a child had been abandoned in the parking lot. By the time Dave returns to the parking lot, some 15 minutes later, two squad cars are there and officers are interviewing the witnesses. The police are well aware that they have Dave Lieber in a very awkward position.
Dave, with Austin's permission, tells the story of this moment that spiraled into a family- threatening, job-threatening nightmare which seemed like it would never end. There were endless articles, tv news reports, both locally and nationally, and the inevitable comments, both positive and negative, on various blogs.
Though saddled with two felony charges and the possibility of a trial in a Tarrant County Courthouse that has also received mention in his Watch Dog columns, Dave tells this story with his trademark humor and a remarkably objective look at his culpability for his own behavior. Dave warns that we all need to live and behave as if the camera is always rolling, because someone is more than likely watching at the moment that we would most want to remain a secret. At last he knows how those who have been exposed in his columns must feel.
The book is available online at BadDadBook.com or on Amazon. It's a quick and enjoyable read, and a word to the wise for all you parents out there!
July 29, 2021
What a pager turner! An insightful story about what happens when the hazards of parenthood run up against the complications of being well-known. Dave Lieber is an amazing story teller.
January 18, 2025
This guy behaved horribly toward his son and got caught. He would like the reader to believe that behavior like this was not the norm but in fact the single time it happened. Oh golly Officer, I have never driven over the speed limit before in my life. But more than that, he would like the reader to believe this was all some vendetta by the local police department. As if they had planted people there at McDonalds waiting for a mistake on his part. What appears instead to have happened is that total strangers were so appalled by his behavior they called the police. He, of course, does not pose this question but I thought the book invited the reader to think about how bad would a stranger have to be treating their son for you to get involved and call the cops?
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews