A Message from Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs Guy: Just to be clear, About My Mother is a book about my grandmother, written by my mother. Thatâs not to say itâs not about my motherâit is. In fact, About My Mother is as much about my mother as it is about my grandmother. In that sense, itâs really a book about âmothers.â
âŚIt is not, however, a book written by me. True, I did write the foreword. But it doesnât mean Iâve written a book about my mother. I havenât. Nor does it mean my motherâs book is about her son. It isnât. Itâs about my grandmother. And my mother. Just to be clear.âMike
A love letter to mothers everywhere, About My Mother will make you laugh and cryâand see yourself in its reflection. Peggy Roweâs story of growing up as the daughter of Thelma Knobel is filled with warmth and humor. But Thelma could be your motherâthereâs a Thelma in everyoneâs life. Sheâs the person taking chargeâthe one who knows instinctively how things should be. Today, Thelma would be described as an alpha personality, but while growing up, her daughter Peggy saw her as a dictatorâalbeit a benevolent, loving one. They clashed from the beginningâPeggy, the horse-crazy tomboy, and Thelma, the genteel-yet-still-controlling mother, committed to raising two refined, ladylike daughters. Good luck.
When major league baseball came to town in the early 1950s and turned sophisticated Thelma into a crazed Baltimore Orioles groupie, nobody was more surprised and embarrassed than Peggy. Life became a series of compromisesâThelma tolerating a daughter who pitched manure and galloped the countryside, while Peggy learned to tolerate the whacky Orioles fan who threw her underwear at the television, shouted insults at umpires, and lived by the orange-and-black schedule taped to the refrigerator door.
Sometimes it takes a little distance to appreciate the people we love.