Why A Son Needs A Dad: 100 Reasons by Gregory Lang and Janet Lankford-Moran

"A son needs a dad who knows how to have fun," Gregory Lang begins this testimony to the important roles fathers play in their sons’ lives. Increasingly in today’s world, young boys are being raised either without a father or by fathers who have very little involvement in their sons’ upbringing. A boy needs a dad to teach him how things work, how to talk with girls, and how to tie a tie. He also needs a father who is willing to make sacrifices, one who shows him that love is unselfish and pulls him back when he is headed in the wrong direction. These and more than ninety other things are what a boy must learn about becoming a man. The result is a sequel to the New York Times bestseller Why a Daughter Needs a Dad.

The relationship between father and son is both simple and complex. Simple in that a father remembers the things he learned as a boy and passes them on to his sons. Complex in that it is filled with quiet hugs and laughter, the comfort of familiarity and the adventure of discovery, and the creation of a history from which they both may draw strength and wisdom.

Today Gregory Lang remembers his dad as someone he worshiped as a child, disfavored as a teenager, and now deeply admires. "On my mantle, next to a high school portrait of my mom and amid many photographs of my daughter," he writes, "sits a picture of my dad and me our front yard. He is squatting down, his arms wrapped around me as I stand between his knees. Sometimes I stand before this mantle and look at those photographs and realize how blessed I am." Now that he is a father himself, Lang realizes that being a dad is the greatest challenge and reward a man can have.

About the Authors
GREGORY E. LANG works in suburban Atlanta. JANET LANKFORD-MORAN is a professional photographer in Chicago. Why a Daughter Needs a Dad was their first book together. You can read about that here!