Father Knows Nothing

For the better part of a decade, Rick Kaempfer wrote a weekly humor column about parenting under the title “Father Knows Nothing” for various different publications. During that time, the Chicago Headline Club twice nominated him for a prestigious Peter Lisagor Award for best newspaper-affiliated blog in Chicago. (And though Roger Ebert at the Sun Times came home with the award, Rick did get to put on a suit and drink ten dollar cocktails with the journalistic glitterati for a couple of evenings.) In 2013, as his oldest son turned 18 years old, Rick reluctantly bid a fond farewell to Father Knows Nothing. He wanted to turn his decade of writing into a book. For the next eight months, Kaempfer waded through 400 old columns, wrote some new material, and wove these memorable stories into the narrative form you can purchase today. To his readers his message is clear: “This is definitely NOT a how-to-book. More like a how-not-to-book.” To his sons: “When it’s time for therapy, just hand this book to your shrink. It will save you a lot of time and money.” It’s certainly not their fault that Father Knows Nothing.

During his 20s and 30s, Rick Kaempfer worked in radio, producing legendary shows by Hall of Famers John Records Landecker and Steve Dahl & Garry Meier. During his 40s, Kaempfer became a full-time writer. He wrote or co-wrote four books during that time (“The Living Wills”, “Records Truly Is My Middle Name”, “$everance”, and “The Radio Producer’s Handbook”), while also serving as the primary caregiver and stay-at-home dad for three growing boys (ages 10, 8, and 3). Care to guess which half of his job was a bigger challenge? As a means of making sense of it all, Rick wrote a column about his parenting adventures at the end of every week. He posted those humorous stories on his daily blog (rickkaempfer.blogspot.com), and before he knew it, Rick had developed a following. The Northwest Indiana Times came calling, and for the next eight years Rick wrote his weekly column under the title “Father Knows Nothing” for various different properties at nwi.com. With the help of this added exposure, and the explosion of social media, Rick’s following grew. He may not have gotten any better at the hard part of his job (hence the title of the column and the book), but he began to be recognized for his writing. The Chicago Headline Club twice nominated Kaempfer for a presigious Peter Lisagor Award for best newspaper-affiliated blog in Chicago. (And though Roger Ebert at the Sun Times came home with the award, Rick did get to put on a suit and drink ten dollar cocktails with the journalistic glitterati for a couple of evenings.) In 2013, just after he turned 50 years old, Rick reluctantly bid a fond farewell to Father Knows Nothing. He wanted to turn his decade of writing into a book. For the next eight months, Kaempfer waded through 400 old columns, wrote some new material, and wove these memorable stories into the narrative form you can purchase today. To his readers his message is clear: “This is definitely NOT a how-to-book. More like a how-not-to-book.” To his sons: “When it’s time for therapy, just hand this book to your shrink. It will save you a lot of time and money.” It’s certainly not their fault that Father Knows Nothing.

Rick Kaempfer wrote “Father Knows Nothing” as a weekly column from 2005—2013. While he was writing it for nwi.com, it was twice nominated for a Peter Lisagor Award as best affiliated blog by the Chicago Headline Club. “Father Knows Nothing” emerged when Rick decided to stay home and raise his boys after a 20 year radio career in Chicago (producing Rock and Roll Hall of Fame programs by Steve & Garry, and John Records Landecker). While he was writing the column, he also wrote four books: “The Radio Producer’s Handbook” (with John Swanson), a satirical novel about the broadcasting business called “$everance”, a collaborative novel with Brendan Sullivan called “The Living Wills”, and “Records Truly Is My Middle Name” with John Records Landecker. Rick still writes a monthly media column for the Illinois Entertainer, a daily blog (rickkaempfer.blogspot.com), and is the editor-in-chief of the Cubs website Just One Bad Century (www.justonebadcentury.com). He lives in suburban Chicago with the stars of “Father Knows Nothing”; his wife Bridget, and his three sons Tommy, Johnny, and Sean.