Life's Work

Ben Bradlee’s all-American football player father lost his well-paying job in the Depression and never recovered his income but also never lost his balance and energy. Living on a borrowed estate, he undertook to clear the property, and his young son bonded with his father as they worked alongside each other in the woods. When thirteen-year-old Ben contracted polio, his father nursed him back to health until they could go to work again. Ben Bradlee tells the story of how this lifelong love of working outdoors enabled him to forge an intimate connection with his own son, Quinn, who was born with a heart defect and is learning disabled. Quinn Bradlee writes about how his father gave him courage and confidence, about what it is like not just to be the son of the Ben Bradlee but his father’s best pal. He tells wistfully how their roles have reversed and how he has become his father’s protector. Sally Quinn, wife and mother, offers her observation on fathers and sons in this joyous celebration of a special relationship.