Keith Mason

“He establishes himself as a major player in the ranks of America's greatest storytellers” 

- Phil Proctor, author and actor (film, stage, Firesign Theater)

"A fine writer whose sentences are toothsome and nourishing, turning in unexpected directions"

- Ben Yagoda, educator and author of "Will Rogers, A Biography" and "The B-Side"

As millions of people each year set out to "discover their roots" comes Keith Mason's story of stumbling upon the family he never knew. His father shows up on the classic TV quiz show "To Tell the Truth" from 1961!

His missing father’s narcissistic behavior and checkered resume runs through seven marriages and eight other children - along with an array of broken promises, petty crimes and unpredictable successes that bring him national attention.

* An unknown grandfather - a crusading reporter - is killed by a corrupt sheriff in a dusty Texas town in 1949 amid an election scandal that roped in the future president Lyndon Johnson

* Emotions collide with each revelation, as the author's lifelong defensive wall collapses and he takes a chance on how he'll be received by the "new" siblings

* With the eventual appearance of his father (whose own parents were ripped away), the author's deeply-held feelings about anger and forgiveness were tested. 

★★★★★     "A remarkable true story, well researched and engagingly recounted" 

-  Paula Bernstein, author of How To Be Golden

★★★★★     "A breathless thrill ride, confronting generations of family drama that leave us stunned and amazed" 

- Ed Cunningham, Philadelphia public broadcaster

This is an extraordinary journey of abandoned children and violent tragedy, determined hope and refusal to repeat the past, rich with historic detail and sardonic humor.

It’s a one-of-a-kind excursion through offbeat chapters of the American parade, as a life-long writer of other people's stories unexpectedly is thrust into one of his own.