A year of letters to his daughters becomes a book
WPAFB engineer pivots from technical documents to a softer side of writing.
As Father’s Day approaches, dads of all backgrounds and types look forward to celebrating with their families. But beyond cookouts, pool parties and sporting events, fatherhood is often complex. With about half the marriages in the United States ending in divorce, many fathers don’t live with their children, so it takes effort to continue to build relationships with them.
Edmund H. Moore, who holds a Ph.D. in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Florida, has worked as an engineer for the Department of Defense at Wright Patterson Air Force Base for nearly 30 years. His daughters, Mackenzie and Madison, were born in Dayton during his 15-year long marriage to their mother.
“My daughters were still young when I was going through my divorce,” Moore said. “I decided to start writing letters to them once per week.”
Moore, a Huber Heights resident, instinctively knew how important it would be going forward to keep communication open with his girls, who would now be spending only about half their time with their dad. He decided on letters because they would give them something tangible they could keep for years to come. Already an accomplished writer of technical documents in his job, and with experience writing short stories and poetry, Moore set out to share his wisdom, experience and his heart in writing with his girls.
“I knew that writing for my daughters, who were just 8 and 12 years old at the time, was different than writing reports,” Moore said.
Moore’s first few letters were focused on his unconditional love for his girls and his commitment to them as their dad. He also tried to share topics relevant to what was happening in their lives and in the lives of those around them at the time.
“I wanted them to know I would be there in the midst of chaos, no matter what,” Moore said.
A year of letters, all written in 2014 and 2015, happened without a concrete plan. Moore started writing and thought he might stop at some point, but before he knew it, a year had gone by, and he had 52 letters for his daughters. He typed them and gave each girl their own copies.
Years went by and Moore never thought about doing anything additional with the letters, but some of his friends suggested they might make a good book. Because he considered them personal between him and his daughters, he wasn’t certain how they would react.
“I decided to publish three copies of the book and give each of them a copy,” Moore sand. “Then I decided I would edit the letters and publish another for the general public.”
“With a Father’s Love: 52 Weekly Letters to My Beloved Daughters,” was published in June of 2020. The letters within the 136-page book cover a variety of topics from religion to manners to finances and, of course, how important communication is to personal relationships.
“I figured the publishing process wouldn’t take long since I already had the letters,” Moore said.
But he was surprised by the time it took to edit. Though he never feared criticism, he had difficulty finding professional editors he trusted to review his work. Once he did, the book was ready in about five months’ time, which in hindsight he says, was not long enough.
“I realized I rushed the book to try to get it done so an aunt of mine could see it before she passed away,” Moore said. “The moral of the story is, don’t rush your work!”
But Moore also said he believes the biggest mistake most writers make is delaying publication too long, as many books are never published and, therefore, never shared.
Today, Moore and his now grown daughters enjoy close relationships. And in 2020, during the early days of the pandemic, Moore began collecting quotes from people he knew that they thought would be inspiring to young people. This time he created an outline and timeline and published the book as a fundraiser for a local nonprofit he supports. He is also the chairperson of the Combined Federal Campaign this year at the base, involving about 5,000 charities worldwide.
“As a father, I was very proud to write these letters to my daughters,” Moore said. “And I’m very proud of the beautiful and intelligent young ladies they have become. I never expected that people would see me as a published writer and ask me about my books. But the joy of being a dad is the highlight of my life, and my daughters are a true gift.”
For more information, log on to Edmundmoore.com.