If I Knew It Was Going To Be This Much Fun, I Would Have Become A Grandparent First Book

From Willard Scott, a new book about the joys of grandparenthood.

America's beloved Today show personality and grandparent, Willard Scott, along with celebrities and ordinary people, share the unique and special joys of being a grandparent.

Who was there for you when you scraped your knee and needed a little TLC? Who never missed a Little League match and took you out for ice cream even when your team lost the game? Whose unique observations and lessons on life still guide you today? Your grandparents, that's who!

Now Willard Scott and a host of his famous and not-so-famous friends celebrate the delights and surprises of this special job in life with If I Knew It Was Going to Be This Much Fun, I Would Have Become a Grandparent First.

A stellar list of contributors, including actors, celebrities and real people, reflect on the role of a lifetime:

--Jayne Meadows Allen --Art Buchwald
--George H.W. Bush
--Charlie Daniels
--Alan Dershowitz
--Phyllis Diller
--Monty Hall
-- Derek Hathaway
--Marilyn Horne
--Jon M. Huntsman
--Julius La Rosa
--Art Linkletter
--Frank G. Mancuso
--Claudia M. Nelson
--George Olah
--Harve Presnell
--Cliff Robertson
--Ned Rorem
--Paul Simon
--Richard "Dick" Thornburgh
--Dick Vitale
--Mort Walker
--Dan Wooding

Willard Scott, the Today show's weatherman since 1980, is also the host of Willard Scott's Home and Garden Almanac on Home & Garden Television. He has distinguished himself with his public service efforts and was recognized by President Ronald Reagan with the Private Sector Award for Public Service in 1985. He was married to the late Mary Dwyer Scott for 43 years. They have two children and two grandchildren. Willard lives in the Washington, D.C. area.

Publishers Weekly

Since 1980, Scott has brought the weather to viewers of the Today show with old-fashioned, all-American homespun heart and soul, and his collection of anecdotes about grandparenting by grandparents of every imaginable ilk has the same inimitable, genuinely folksy tone as his forecasts. The roster of over 100 contributors comprises both has-been celebrities, who were lured back into the public eye by this opportunity to share verbal pictures of their grandchildren, and widely known personalities. There's actress and former NEA chair Jane Alexander, attorney Alan Dershowitz, former president George H.W. Bush, composer and diarist Ned Rorem and singer Nancy Sinatra. Historical asides about subjects such as the story of Grandparents' Day and tidbits from Willard himself (e.g., "Willard's Favorite Nicknames for Grandparents") lend texture, and some of the lengthier, deeper contributions, like that of Stephen Covey (The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People), add substance, so the book is more than just a side-table decoration or a stocking stuffer. Although the book nicely lays out the qualities needed to qualify as a grandparent, it also has immense, laugh-out-loud appeal for readers of all ages, especially those already privileged to claim membership in the vast, growing and truly democratic demographic of grandparents. (Apr.) Forecast: Scott will push the book on Today and will promote it via national TV and radio satellite tours, print ads and Mother's and Father's Day promos. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.