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community people
Rob Kenney
FATHER OF THE YEAR WORDS Dwain Hebda images HarperCollins Publishers
Last June, romper.com listed the favorite TV dads
other fields. Drew Brees held his toddler son in one
of every state in the country. The results ran the
hand, accepting the Super Bowl XLIV trophy in the
gamut from the predictable (Jack Pearson of This
other; Dave Groehl of Foo Fighters is a dad to three
is Us; Danny Tanner of Full House) to the classic
and credits his own late father as a singular light in
(Ben Cartwright of Bonanza; Mike Brady of The
his life. Every modern president has been a family
Brady Bunch) to the puzzling (Homer Simpson of
man though only one, George Washington, holds
The Simpsons and Walter White of Breaking Bad).
the mantle, Father of Our Country.
For the record, Arkansas marched to its own beat,
To that distinguished list add Rob Kenney
the only state to name Jed “JD” Clampett of The
who, thanks to a simple idea and social media,
Beverly Hillbillies fame as their preferred patriarch.
has become the dad some never had. Or, more precisely, the dad he never had.
“America’s Favorite Dad” has been a title debated and handed down for as long as there has been
“I was born in New Orleans, then we moved up
television, as well as bestowed to admired papas in
to Seattle where my dad worked for Boeing on
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