More to Life than More

At the age of thirty, just as everything was falling into place for him, Lee Pesky died of brain cancer. For his father, Alan, grief came with the realization that he had lost the chance to love Lee as he was—not as he wanted him to be. Ambitious, successful, and always striving for more, Alan had a hard time relating to a son who struggled with learning disabilities at a time when there was little understanding or help for kids who had them. Their relationship was complicated, and now, Lee was gone.

More to Life than More is a memoir of misunderstanding, loss, and learning. After Lee’s death, Alan’s conception of more crumbles. He launches himself into keeping Lee’s memory alive by helping kids in a way he wasn’t able to help his son. It was too late to change his relationship with Lee, but he could create something positive and enduring from his loss: Lee Pesky Learning Center, a non-profit in Idaho dedicated to understanding and helping those with learning differences.

In 25 years, LPLC has benefited more than 100,000 children and has become a national force for early childhood literacy. And for Alan, it has meant getting to know the son he had misunderstood and lost.