A Chat with “Inspirational Dad” Larry King
We all know Larry King as the world-renowned TV anchor who kept Americans in-the-know on global happenings for 25 years via his CNN show, Larry King Live. But when I recently chatted with Larry King on the web series My Life as a Dad, I wanted to know about his experience in being a dad to five children, two of which were born almost four decades after his first children. Larry King’s son Larry, Jr., adopted son Andy, and daughter Chaia were born in the 60’s, a hectic time when his promising and long-withstanding broadcast journalism career took off. Larry shared his thoughts how he thinks his earlier children might view how he fathers his sons Chance (b. 1999) and Cannon (b. 2000) differently now. “I don’t know if they are hurt by it…they don’t say it. They all pretty much handle it very well and they love their younger brothers. But I imagine that there is a little resentment. That would be normal, you know, why he wasn’t there for me all the time. It’s the kind of life I led and if I could do a do-over again, I would have spent more time.”
The reputable TV anchor goes on to share his greatest piece of advice for parents and discloses one of his biggest regrets. His advice for parents: “The advice I would give is ‘you can’t get it back.’ The day you didn’t go to the game, you can’t get that back. You didn’t go. The hotel room that goes unsold will never be sold. The day you didn’t spend, you didn’t spend. That is a big regret of mine; that I didn’t do more.” On how many men don’t understand real love until they have a child: “It’s the first time in your life. You don’t have to love your wife–that’s why there is divorce. You don’t divorce your children. There are things about your children that will annoy you, but the love is spectacular.”
He also shared a special moment he had at one of his son’s baseball games: “Yesterday, my son pitched three scoreless innings for Notre Dame’s scrimmage game. I was sitting in the stands at the beautiful field at Notre Dame. He was pitching and standing on the mound with that regal look…I just looked at him and could almost cry. I flashed back to the day he was born and the day I took him to his first game. And there he is, standing with that regal look. He struck out a guy…that jolt just goes through your heart. He asked me, ‘Do you root for me more than you root for the Dodgers?’ and I said, ‘Of course!'” His thoughts about the fatherhood experience: “Fatherhood is fantastic, fantastic. Whatever is second best is a distant second.”
Happy Parenting!
Daddy Nickell
Robert Nickell (aka Daddy Nickell) is a father of 7, parenting expert and the founder of Daddy & Co., delivery room duds and daddy gifts and apparel for every stage of fatherhood, along with the Daily Daddy Blog. He is also the creator and producer of “My Life as a Dad” the groundbreaking new web series that showcases celebrity fathers offering their personal experiences and parenting tips.
