Do you know a celebrity? Someone famous, an actress or sports figure or a realty TV star? Do you look at them as if they are a celebrity, meaning do you pay them special attention or act differently towards them because they are a celebrity? Or do you converse with them about normal stuff, go to the movies, maybe to the beach or out to dinner and don’t think for a minute I am hanging out with a celebrity? What if that famous person wound up being a relative, and you literally had no idea for years your relative was a famous person nor why people flocked to be near them? What if it was your father? What if it was it was Ted Williams?

Claudia Williams pens a beautiful memoir about her father, Ted Williams in the book, “Ted Williams, My Father.” Claudia starts the narrative early on in her childhood with the premise of not really knowing who her father was, other than a fisherman. The third of Ted Williams 3 children, Claudia was born in 1971. Williams retired from baseball in 1960, 11 years before Claudia was born. Translation – Claudia did not experience the Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox that so many baseball fans know and love. She got to experience the Ted Williams his family knew – the good, the bad, and the temper.

“Ted Williams, My Father,” does talk about baseball but the theme of the book is Claudia’s journey in life. From her upbringing in rural Vermont, time spent in Europe, a college stint at my alma mater Springfield College (we were there at the same time 1990s), back and forth from visits to Florida and New Brunswick, Canada Claudia shares family movements with her mom, her older brother John-Henry, and of course her very tough nut to crack father. The stories of her life in Vermont on the farm and how she was raised were just incredible to read. I loved reading about the drama when she would visit her Dad in Florida and some of Ted’s pet peeves. And the tales of trying to live up to a standard that many would consider too high and too tough to reach.

The book has a tinge of sadness to it, in my opinion. Claudia tries to relate and tries to understand and tries to make things as positive as she can. Children of divorced parents often struggle with identity and where do they fit in and then you add in a step-parent and navigating through that. It is a struggle, I am a product of it, as are my children. You try to find common ground and hope that that is enough to maintain the relationship. In Claudia’s case, she tried to reach common ground with athletics, then fishing to create that family bond with her father. She was immensely candid about failing at times and winning some victories other times. Despite the struggles, I could tell from her writing that the intent was there.

For those of you looking at the title and expecting a gigantic glowing positive biography of Ted Williams, the Hall of Fame Boston Red Sox great, I hate to disappoint you but this book is not what you are looking for. It is an honest account of what life was like with Ted Williams, the retired baseball player turned fisherman but still a major celebrity in a role many don’t know much about – his role as a father. For those who know and work with celebrities, they will more often than not tell you that the person you see on TV is not the person you know off camera. I would say without fail that this book, written with sincere honesty and incredible detail, echoes that statement.

As I was finishing this book and about to do some background on Claudia Williams, I read that she passed away last December, 2023. She was 52 years old. May she rest in peace.