SGT. PEPPER IN THE HOUSE
Recently, after a long work day, I came through the kitchen door and these lyrics boomed through my house:
Recently, after a long work day, I came through the kitchen door and these lyrics boomed through my house:
That’s where I was a couple days ago. Now I’m looking out the window of my midtown Manhattan hotel room. It’s cold, dark and snowy outside. Although alone, my mind is on my journey with my best friend. We are separated tonight. But there’s no distance between us.
Sunset in St. Thomas
Who’s your best friend?
For me, that’s an easy one – my wife Lydia. There’s no one I’d rather be alone with.
The trouble is that time alone is hard to come by. I work relentlessly. (I’m writing this at midnight from a hotel in New York City.) She works even harder teaching our four children and running our organic farm in Virginia.
When I was a kid, most of my friends looked up to athletes. My hero was my grandfather Merle Shelton. I used to call him my Mickey Mantle. The Mick was my grandfather’s favorite ballplayer. In my eyes, Merle was just as legendary. This month he celebrated his 84thbirthday. Not bad for a guy who has smoked a pack a day since he was a teen. He did adult things early. On his 17th birthday Merle walked into a Navy recruiting office in Pittsburg and enlisted. It was 1943 and the military promised a better future than the coal mine he worked in.
First a follow-up on my last blog post about teaching children well. The number of reader responses was off the charts. I heard from a Wall Street banker, an artist, stay-at-home mothers, lots of fathers, a Harvard professor, many grandparents, a surgeon, a minister, and everybody in between. Even David Crosby’s lovely wife Jan chimed in. Responses came from as far away as Dubai and Ghana. Usually blog comments are just that – a comment. But I received dozens of emails that read like letters flush with emotional memories of your best times. I guess we know what matters most.
Jeff Benedict is the bestselling author of sixteen non-fiction books, as well as a television and film producer. His latest book, The Dynasty, is the definitive inside story of the New England Patriots under Robert Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. An instant New York Times bestseller, The Dynasty is the basis of a 10-part documentary series that is being produced by Imagine Documentaries in association with NFL Films for Apple TV+. Jeff is a writer and executive producer for the series. In 2018, Jeff co-wrote the #1 bestseller Tiger Woods and he was an executive producer on the HBO documentary “Tiger” that was based on the book and aired in 2021. The book is currently being developed into a scripted series, which Jeff is executive producing. Jeff is also the executive producer on a documentary based on his book Poisoned for Campfire Studios that will air on Netflix. In 2017, Jeff co-produced “Little Pink House,” a feature film starring Catherine Keener and Jeanne Tripplehorn that was based on his book of the same title. And in 2016, Jeff co-wrote with Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young his critically acclaimed, bestselling autobiography QB: My Life Behind the Spiral. Jeff was also a writer on the NFL Films documentary "A Football Life: Steve Young,” which was based on the book.
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