Lessons of My Father
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One Saturday afternoon in nineteen sixty-eight I was lying on the floor at home, very content, doodling on a piece of paper. Daddy came to me and said, “Come on, I want you to go with me someplace.” He took me to a rehearsal. I was four and though I could not have known it at the time, it was the beginning of the rest of my life, my induction into the great, lasting legacy of my grandfather. That day Daddy began teaching me to sing. From then on, he kept me by his side, training me for the stage, making me a musician, grooming me as a future producer, preparing me for ministry. I doubt that it ever crossed his mind that he was engaged in all of that at the time, except perhaps preparing me for ministry, but Daddy knew who I was. I was his son, and he had an inkling what was in me, though he didn't know, I suspect, where it would take me. He was my father, and I'm not sure that we were of similar temperaments back then, but I think Daddy was aware that a lot of who he was and what was in him, I was and had in me. So, he started shaping my character, first through singing, but along the way he would employ every other method that was available to him. His whole life would become a pedagogy to me. But, the stage was a great place to begin. It was Daddy's domain, an excellent school for a hands-on, in-the-moment teacher like him, and he used it well.
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About the Book
Lessons of My Father is a small tribute to a great man. A memoir, it is a collection of the lessons Edmund Bullock learned from his father as he stayed close to him—in work, in play, and in worship—for fifty years. Written in a smooth, easy, conversational style of the writer’s favorite author, the iconic historian David McCullough, the book chronicles much of the life of George Bullock, Sr., the youngest of twenty-seven children growing up in the Jim Crow South, and the years that followed as he raised fourteen children of his own in the inner city of Boston, Massachusetts. In a lyrical voice, the author describes in entertaining detail what it was like to be the son of George Bullock, a larger-than-life loving father, firm disciplinarian, dynamic preacher of the Gospel, faithful friend, gifted musician, and committed church member. In humorous anecdotes, Edmund Bullock shares a little family history, as well as a bit of his own story. This is a compelling and moving tribute, a candid documentary. You will laugh and cry, and be amazed at the magnitude of this great man, small in stature, whose life has touched thousands and continues to do so.
About the Author
Edmund Bullock was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He began singing at four years old. He is on the ministerial staff at the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church in Boston. Edmund holds a bachelors degree in business and is currently studying for a Juris Doctor at New England Law—Boston. He is married to Gisela Morgan-Bullock. They live in Boston.