FINDING MY FATHER

A devoted daughter pays homage to an extraordinary man.

Drawing on abundant sources, sociolinguist Tannen creates a loving biography of her father, Eli Samuel Tannen, who indelibly shaped her life. She took on the project, she writes, “because he bequeathed his words to me—all the words he wrote and saved; all the letters and documents and cards and notes that he gathered and held on to; all the stories he remembered, wrote down, and told me; and the hours upon hours of conversations we had when he was old.” Arriving in the U.S. from Poland when he was 12, he soon became the breadwinner for his mother and sister after his father died. Although his mother wanted him to finish high school, he dropped out and studied law “because it was the only profession he could pursue at night.” In 1933, though, when he passed the bar, the Depression closed off opportunities to practice. His list of 68 jobs represents “a summary of his adult life” and “his pride in doing whatever he could—whatever he had to do—to support his family.” In 1958, he finally established his own law firm, specializing in workers’ compensation. Including eloquent passages from her father’s writings, Tannen relates his vivid memories of his childhood in Warsaw, portrayals of his accomplished aunts (one was Einstein’s student and lover), his fervent identification as a Jew, and his early idealistic membership in the Communist Party, which generated a thick FBI file. The author digs deeply into her parents’ relationship, concluding that their marriage resulted from “the inevitable interplay of two young people thrown together by circumstance; the temptations of sex (for him); the desire to marry (for her); and the scaling back of great, often unrealistic expectations by circumscribed opportunities.” Her brilliant, resolute father, Tannen amply shows, was worthy of her undying admiration.

A generous and empathetic portrait.