Learning life's lessons at a bar

By Thomas Fudge / Science and Technology Reporter, KPBS Public Broadcasting

Published January 3, 2006 at 9:00 PM PST

This story was published more than 18 years ago.

We speak to J.R. Moehringer about life growing up in a bar, and the men who would become his father figures.

Originally aired December 1, 2005

Imagine spending most of your childhood in a bar. And imagine if the bar patrons were closer to you than your own father. In fact this was the life of J.R. Moehringer. Moehringer was a young, fatherless boy when he sought refuge at a local bar in New York's Long Island. That's where he befriended an unlikely group of father figures. Moehringer grew very close to this crew as they offered advice throughout his life. Moehringer's experience is the basis of his new memoir called The Tender Bar. We speak to J.R. Moehringer about life growing up in a bar, and the men who would become his father figures.

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Guests:

J.R. Moehringer , author of The Tender Bar: A Memoir. He is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing in 2000. He is a national correspondent for the Los Angeles Times.