Author and former radio host Claude Knobler shared the very beginning of his journey as a parent in this 2008 interview “Life is Wonderfully Ridiculous” for NPR’s This I Believe series: after reading a New York Times magazine story about an orphanage in Ethiopia, he told his wife Mary, that maybe they could help, trying to impress her with his generosity and kind heart, but never really believing she’d say yes.
And so alongside the seven year old son and five year old daughter they already had, Claude and Mary Knobler adopted Nati, a five year old Ethiopian boy who spoke no English to join their family in Los Angeles. That was twelve years ago.
In his book, More Love, Less Panic, Knobler weaves together moving stories about trying to turn his loud, spirited, and “too happy” African son into a quiet, neurotic, Jewish kid like he himself had once been, quickly learning a lesson that made him a better father – not just to Nati, but to all three of his kids.
