This Is Not A Reading Series continues its celebration of Black History Month with a event to launch I Am My Father’s Son (HarperCollins Canada), a memoir by celebrated Canadian singer-songwriter Dan Hill.

Even as his songs climbed the music charts around the world, Hill could not win the approval of the one critic whose opinion he valued most: his father, Daniel Grafton Hill III, a man who has been called Canada’s father of human rights. Hill will perform a few songs and discuss the politics of fatherhood, human rights and the international music business with venerated broadcast journalist Marci Ien.

– A This is Not A Reading Series event presented by Pages Books & Magazines, HarperCollins Canada, EYE WEEKLY, Gladstone Hotel and Take Five On CIUT. 

Gladstone Hotel Ballroom, 1214 Queen St West, Toronto
Mon Feb 23; 7:30pm (Doors 7pm) $5 (Free With Book Purchase)

I AM MY FATHER’S SON

Daniel Hill IV—known to millions simply as Dan Hill—is one of Canada’s most respected and successful singer-songwriters. By age 23, he had already won several Junos and had been nominated for a Grammy, having released three multi-platinum albums in Canada and another platinum album in the United States. But as Dan continued to top the U.S. charts in the ’80s and find equal success as a songwriter/producer for the music industry’s biggest stars in the ’90s, there was still one critic he could never satisfy: his father. From the time he picked up a guitar at age 11, Daniel Hill IV did everything he could to gain the approval of Daniel Grafton Hill III, a man who has been called Canada’s father of human rights. But the senior Hill set impossibly high standards for himself and his family, especially for his eldest son. While Dan inherited his father’s drive, his own interests lay in another direction. This led to conflict and alienation between father and son, even as Dan achieved international fame and financial success.

In I Am My Father’s Son, Hill traces this poignant, difficult relationship through vivid family stories, letters, memories and his own award-winning lyrics, often revealing the motivation behind the songs. He tells the story of two parallel lives, alternating between his father’s experience of racism in mid-20th-century America and his own search for identity as a young black man in suburban Canada. Dan compares his own fascinating journey through the international music business to his father’s pioneering efforts in Canadian human rights. Bursting with humour and pathos, I Am My Father’s Son is an intensely personal journey of revelation, examination and, ultimately, forgiveness. It is a story that lays bare the private struggle between two very public figures and at the same time illuminates the universal relationship between fathers and sons.

The strongest man I ever knew
I never was a match for you
always wanted your attention
never knew just how to get it, so I rebelled
tried to be your opposite, I did it well,
strange but true, how our lives are like a circle now
I’m so very much like you
—from Dan Hill’s song “My Father’s Son”

DAN HILL is one of Canada’s most successful singer-songwriters.. In 1978, at the age of 23, he had his first smash hit, “Sometimes When We Touch,” one of the most covered pop songs of all time. His remarkable career includes hit songs in a variety of styles from country to pop to R&B. His awards include a Grammy, five Junos, four platinum and two gold albums. He has written and produced songs for Céline Dion, Alan Jackson and Britney Spears, and has licensed his songs for countless Hollywood movies. Hill recently wrote a cover story for Maclean’s about the trials and tribulations of being the father of a mixed-race teenager. He is a frequent musical guest on Stuart McLean’s cross-country Vinyl Café tours. Visit the author at danhill.com.

MARCI IEN is an award-winning broadcast journalist. Marci Ien is the Early Edition Host and News Anchor for CANADA AM and anchors CTV NEWSNET with Marci Ien weekday mornings. She was recently awarded the 2008 Black Business and Professional Association's (BBPA) Harry Jerome Award in the media category for her contribution to journalism in Canada and her dedication to children's charities. In September 2008, Ien travelled to Sierra Leone on behalf of Journalists for Human Rights where she met with reporters and led training workshops. She lives in Toronto.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Dan Hill: Lindsey Love, Lindsey.Love@harpercollins.com,  (416) 975-5223
This Is Not A Reading Series: Chris Reed, tinars@pagesbooks.ca, (416) 598-1447