Actor Steve Guttenberg (“Police Academy”) discussed his new book “Time to Thank: Caregiving for My Hero.”
Idea for this book
On the idea for this book, he remarked, “I had been taking care of my dad for a few years, and I was out of town a lot. I was at a grocery store where I ran into my friend Jake Steinfeld, and Jake asked me where I had been since he hadn’t seen me in a while. He thought that me taking care of my father was a book idea.”
“We spoke to a literary agent, and she thought it was a book too,” he said. “We talked more about it, and then, she got me a publishing deal, and I actually wrote the book sitting by my dad’s side.”
When asked if it was a cathartic process to write this book, he responded, “Not really. It was telling a story that I thought other caregivers could really use.”
“Caregiving, in this country, is such a big deal. There are 53 million caregivers in our country,” he acknowledged.
“Everybody knows somebody who is taking care of somebody,” he admitted. “There are really only two kinds of people in this world: either you are going to need a caregiver or you are going to be a caregiver.”
“The book really talks to other caregivers but it also talks to everybody because everyone has people they love that are aging and somebody they care about that they know is going to need help,” he elaborated.
“This book really just tells the story but it also tells my individual story of driving 400 miles each way to see my dad (800 miles a week). I had a three-year-old car that had 120,000 miles on it, and it’s about what my father was like when he was younger: how strong he was and how good he was to me,” he said.
“Later on, the book was about me helping my father do tasks that he helped me do when I was younger,” he added.
Advice for young and aspiring authors
For young and aspiring authors, he encouraged them “to read as much as they can.” “Reading is so important for an author,” he underscored. “You’ve got to read… reading is everything.”
Stage of his life
On the title of the current chapter of his life, Guttenberg said, “Hope.”
His favorite motto to live by is: “Don’t walk a mile for someone who won’t cross a street for you.” “Walk 10,000 miles through a hurricane for someone you love,” he said.
When asked what superpower he would like to have, he responded, “I feel my superpower is kindness, and that’s a good power.”
Success
Regarding his definition of the word success, he revealed, “Success means freedom.”
Message for his fans and supporters
For his fans and supporters, Guttenberg expressed, “You don’t know how much your support means to me. If you do, then you know that it’s enormous. When people care, even if they are strangers, they become more than strangers, they become closer to your soul.”
“When people care, worry, and want the best for you, it’s a great honor and a great responsibility. I want them to know that I take that responsibility very seriously. I hope this book inspires people to have respect for our seniors, and the people that are older than us… they need our respect and kindness,” he concluded.
“Time to Thank: Caregiving for My Hero” is available on Amazon by clicking here.
To learn more about actor Steve Guttenberg, follow him on Instagram.
Read More: “Time to Thank: Caregiving for My Hero” book review.
