Unconditional love

Walter Wangerin Jr. says love for his son Matthew made Matthew’s rebellion difficult, but Matthew says it’s also what led to their reconciliation | Susan Olasky

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Walter Wangerin Jr.'s novels, including The Book of the Dun Cow (winner of the National Book Award) and Paul: A Novel, have received enthusiastic reviews. He is currently a professor at Valparaiso University in Indiana, where he teaches creative writing and is fighting lung cancer.

Wangerin's Father and Son: Finding Freedom (Zondervan, 2008) tells of his persevering relationship with Matthew, one of his four children. Matthew rebelled as a teenager and had some troubled years: Father and son are now reconciled.

Q: How's your health?

I am what you call stable. The tumors are there and they are metabolizing right now. I have maybe half capacity of lungs—there's a rumbling, but it's been stable now I think almost a year so that's really good.