Episode #359 – A Look Back on 2024 Hi I’m David Hirsch, founder of the 21st Century Dads Foundation and Special Fathers Network as well as host of the Special Fathers Network Dad To Dad Podcast. Happy New Year and welcome to the first episode of 2025. Tom Couch, the editor and producer of the SFN Dad To Dad Podcast, and I, thought we would do something special and provide a Look Back on 2024. In total we produced 72 episodes, 52 were weekly episodes airing on Fridays and for 20 weeks from May through September we produced a series of short episodes with SFN Mentor Fathers who are also involved with the SFN Mastermind Group program. We called them SFN Mastermind Group Monday Podcasts. While we’d love to include a snippet from all 70+ episodes, to keep it more concise we decided to provide some highlights. We hope you enjoy listening to this Look Back on 2024 Episode as much as we did producing it. 18 of the 2024 guests are authors. Nine of the interviews included international guests, from the following seven countries: Australia, Canada, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Iceland, Israel and the UK. Four of the guests are women. Three interviews were with dads who lost a child including one who was an Israeli hostage killed by Hamas terrorists. Two interviews included military veterans: a former U.S. Navy Seal and a U.S. Air Force Vietnam-era combat pilot. And one of the guests is a Native American. The episodes also spanned a very broad range of disabilities including; Autism, Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy, Rare Disease, Dwarfism as well as those who are blind, deaf and missing a limb(s). Here is a brief month by month recap with a clip from a select number of episodes. In January, we aired four episodes including a dad from the UK and one from the Cayman Islands as well as with Jonathan Eig, father to three, including a son whose parents passed away at an early age. Jon is also the best-selling author of biographies on: Muhammad Ali, Lou Gehrig, and MLK. In February, we aired four episodes including one with Dave Jereb of Sydney, Australia, a Physical Therapist, co-founder of Move About Therapies and author of the book: Challenging The Story. We also did a two-episode story with filmmaker Bob Manganelli, whose 23 year old deaf son, very tragically committed suicide, while at Gallaudet University back in 2014. In March, we produced five episodes including a two-episode interview with Keith Harris of Albuquerque, NM who is a retired business owner and father of four, including son Tim who has Down Syndrome. He and Tim owned and operated the restaurant Tim’s Place for five years. Tim also went on to author The Book of Hugs, a children’s book. In April, we aired four episodes including one with Jonathan Bennett of Ontario Canada, who is an executive leadership coach, author and father of two, including one with Autism who is also non-binary. In May, we did six episodes including one with Dr. Greg Pursley of Jackson, MO who is a chiropractor, owner of PC Medical Centers, an author and father of two, including a son who has Dwarfism. We also interviewed John Borling of Rockford, IL who is a retired Major General in the U.S. Air Force. John was a combat pilot in Vietnam who flew 97 missions before being shot down and held hostage for six years, eight months at the Infamous Hanoi Hilton. And we interviewed Jon Ghahate a Pueblo Indian from Placitas, NM who is a Vietnam-er veteran and father of three, including a daughter who is sight impaired. In June, we produced eight episodes including four SFN Mastermind Group Monday interviews with testimonials about their mastermind group experiences. One was with John Shouse of Franklin, TN an industrial control engineer and father of three including twin boys, one of which, Evan, is Autistic. John and his wife, Janet, have been leaders in the disability community throughout TN and John has been involved with the Tuesday night Mastermind group for nearly three years. We also interviewed Paul Briggs of Falling Waters, WV, who is the father of 38. No this was not a typographical error or some misstatement. Paul and his wife, Jeanne, have six biological kids and 32 adopted children including: 13 from Ghana, 10 from Ukraine, six from Russia, two from Bulgaria and one from Mexico. In July, we did nine episodes including five Mastermind Group Monday interviews. We also interviewed Kelley Coleman of Los Angeles, CA, a mother of two, a disability advocate, and author of Everything No One Tells You About Parenting a Disabled Child: Your Guide to the Essential Systems, Services, and Supports. We also interviewed Sam Farmer of North Easton, MA who is the father of a son with Autism and later in life was also diagnosed with Asperger’s. Sam is also the author of A Long Walk Down A Winding Road and has become one of the more well recognized self-advocates in the Autism ...
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