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June 18, 1999

Father’s Day ‘99

For Father's Day, stories about fathers going out of their way to protect their kids, and kids going out of their way to protect their fathers.

Prologue

The story of the lengths a father will go to to retrieve a lost teddy bear, and why—after he's enlisted many other parents to help him wade through tens of thousands of bags of trash to find it—none of the parents involved think he's nuts. (5 minutes)
Act Two

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Photographer Joel Meyerowitz decided to go on a last big trip with his father Hy, who has Alzheimer's. Joel also brought his own son. The purpose of the trip? To try to get close to a part of Hy's personality that Alzheimer's has eradicated and see if it might be possible to jumpstart some of his memories. Joel and his son decide to make a movie of the trip. We hear some of the very funny, very moving raw footage. The film, Pop, aired on the PBS program Frontline. (24 minutes)
Act Three

Age of Enchantment

What happens when a dad tries too hard to protect his child from disappointment and instead enthrall the child. With the best of intentions, New Yorker writer Lawrence Weschler did all that, and in the process accidentally broke his daughter's heart. And then she took action and mended the problem. This story was first broadcast a year ago on Father's Day, when his daughter Sara was 11. (20 minutes)