about David, particularly when he was in his teens and wanted to go to a club with a girl, and I would give Jack my opinion. Sometimes Jack would follow my advice, other times not.
If anyone had compelled me to judge Jack’s parenting skills during those years, I’d have been forced to admit that he was never much of a father. He never went to any of David’s Little League games, after promising he would attend. To Jack, one phone call telling David, “I’ll be there in spirit,” took care of any obligation to be there in reality. Jack neglected David shamefully and, down the line, would do the same to our three sons together, Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan.
I believe, though, that Jack hurt David far more than he hurt Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan. When David was nine or so, I’d often see him crying in the corner because of something Jack had said or done to him, and I did my best to comfort him. That didn’t stop Jack from playing the heavy father and disciplining David far too much, sometimes even paddling him, just as my mother did to me and Jack’s mother did to him. As a result, David became afraid of Jack, and I didn’t blame him at all.
However, I always nursed the fond hope that David would get to know Jack and the two of them would become closer to each other. One time, when David was twelve, I convinced Jack to go with him on a camping trip in the San Bernardino Mountains, where they were scheduled to stay at a Boy Scouts camp together. Only with Jack being Jack, he and David had little togetherness on that trip.
When David and all the other kids were fast asleep, Jack, who’d bought some Scotch along with him, sat around the campfire and regaled the other dads with his showbiz stories and his standard repertoire of jokes.
In the morning, poor David was practically mobbed by all the other fathers eager to praise Jack for his wit, charm, and bonhomie. As always, Jack was the center of attention, just the way he liked it, and David was overshadowed utterly and completely.
Later on, Jack started taking David with him when he went on summer-stock tours, and David, at last, had a chance to get to know his father better.
However, David never lived with us until the summer of 1968, when Jack and I rented a hundred-year-old stone castle, which boasted turrets and stained-glass windows, in Irvingtonon-Hudson, while we were rehearsing for the Broadway show Maggie Flynn .
David came to live with us, and during that time he became closer to his brothers, Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan. When Shaun was born, I had been worried that David would feel left out and be jealous and vindictive toward Shaun, but David turned out to be quite the reverse. David and Shaun never had any sibling rivalry, partly because David was so much older than Shaun, and later on, as Shaun grew older, he looked up to David. Although David lived with his mother in Orange, New Jersey, whenever he came to visit us, the boys always loved seeing him and vice versa. I think he was happy to be part of a big family.
David was good-natured and threw himself into playing with Shaun, and later Patrick and Ryan, taking them swimming and riding bicycles with them. David loved to babysit the boys and was extremely responsible when he did.
The boys particularly enjoyed the pillow fights they often had with David. If David ever tired of playing with his brothers, who were so much younger than him (Shaun was eight years his junior; Patrick, twelve years; and Ryan, sixteen), he could always escape to the pool house, where he sometimes entertained young ladies.
Ladies, girls, women, had always been a part of David’s life. Like his father, he was highly sexed, and in his autobiography he confessed that he had his first sexual experience when he was nine years old and fondled a friend’s sister. So even as a young boy, he played the field with girls. Throughout his early teens, women flocked to him in droves. Although I never met any of them in person, I was
If anyone had compelled me to judge Jack’s parenting skills during those years, I’d have been forced to admit that he was never much of a father. He never went to any of David’s Little League games, after promising he would attend. To Jack, one phone call telling David, “I’ll be there in spirit,” took care of any obligation to be there in reality. Jack neglected David shamefully and, down the line, would do the same to our three sons together, Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan.
I believe, though, that Jack hurt David far more than he hurt Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan. When David was nine or so, I’d often see him crying in the corner because of something Jack had said or done to him, and I did my best to comfort him. That didn’t stop Jack from playing the heavy father and disciplining David far too much, sometimes even paddling him, just as my mother did to me and Jack’s mother did to him. As a result, David became afraid of Jack, and I didn’t blame him at all.
However, I always nursed the fond hope that David would get to know Jack and the two of them would become closer to each other. One time, when David was twelve, I convinced Jack to go with him on a camping trip in the San Bernardino Mountains, where they were scheduled to stay at a Boy Scouts camp together. Only with Jack being Jack, he and David had little togetherness on that trip.
When David and all the other kids were fast asleep, Jack, who’d bought some Scotch along with him, sat around the campfire and regaled the other dads with his showbiz stories and his standard repertoire of jokes.
In the morning, poor David was practically mobbed by all the other fathers eager to praise Jack for his wit, charm, and bonhomie. As always, Jack was the center of attention, just the way he liked it, and David was overshadowed utterly and completely.
Later on, Jack started taking David with him when he went on summer-stock tours, and David, at last, had a chance to get to know his father better.
However, David never lived with us until the summer of 1968, when Jack and I rented a hundred-year-old stone castle, which boasted turrets and stained-glass windows, in Irvingtonon-Hudson, while we were rehearsing for the Broadway show Maggie Flynn .
David came to live with us, and during that time he became closer to his brothers, Shaun, Patrick, and Ryan. When Shaun was born, I had been worried that David would feel left out and be jealous and vindictive toward Shaun, but David turned out to be quite the reverse. David and Shaun never had any sibling rivalry, partly because David was so much older than Shaun, and later on, as Shaun grew older, he looked up to David. Although David lived with his mother in Orange, New Jersey, whenever he came to visit us, the boys always loved seeing him and vice versa. I think he was happy to be part of a big family.
David was good-natured and threw himself into playing with Shaun, and later Patrick and Ryan, taking them swimming and riding bicycles with them. David loved to babysit the boys and was extremely responsible when he did.
The boys particularly enjoyed the pillow fights they often had with David. If David ever tired of playing with his brothers, who were so much younger than him (Shaun was eight years his junior; Patrick, twelve years; and Ryan, sixteen), he could always escape to the pool house, where he sometimes entertained young ladies.
Ladies, girls, women, had always been a part of David’s life. Like his father, he was highly sexed, and in his autobiography he confessed that he had his first sexual experience when he was nine years old and fondled a friend’s sister. So even as a young boy, he played the field with girls. Throughout his early teens, women flocked to him in droves. Although I never met any of them in person, I was
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