Tell the Kids I Love Them

"As a boy, as a reporter, and now as an author, Jeremy Redmon has braved violence and its ugly aftermaths. On a search to render meaning from those inheritances, he has written the rawest and truest and most generous of stories."—John T. Edge, writer and host of TrueSouth, author of House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home

"Jeremy Redmon's often-harrowing memoir about living with his father's suicide is an extremely moving document. We follow Jeremy as he grows into manhood and starts a family, becomes a journalist, covers the U.S. war in Iraq, and follows in his father's footsteps to Vietnam—all while keeping his father's act before him, determined to figure out what it meant. The author writes with bravery, honesty, and grace, but the best word to describe this memoir is sincere; Jeremy Redmon means what he writes. And he handles his material with consummate skill; he is a natural writer, and his memoir is a smooth read that belies the urgent communication beneath. I came away changed."—Mary V. Dearborn, author of Hemingway: A Biography

"With clear, precise prose Jeremy Redmon takes us to war-torn Iraq, Little League lacrosse fields, marriage and fatherhood all in attempt to discover something of his father's journey from celebrated Vietnam-era US airman to suicide in a cheap hotel room. What he learns contains lessons for us all."—Lolis Eric Elie, co-producer and writer for Faubourg Treme: The Untold Story of Black New Orleans

"I could speak at great length about the honesty and deep feeling of Jeremy Redmon's Tell the Kids I Love Them. But I would rather just tell you to open it and read, for all that makes it such a beautiful book—its love, pain, grief, and hope—is baked into every sentence, from first to last."—Tom Junod, author of In The Days of My Youth I Was Told What It Means to Be a Man