From a Father's Loss

The fathers' loss category appears to be an odd, but growing, international marketing niche. The good news — for now, at least — is that the fathers who suffered and their future like are the ones to benefit.

Out of Indiana comes Tuesday Mornings with Dads, tales of fathers who have lost a son or a daughter. With obvious reference to Mitch Albom's Tuesdays and the Chicken Soup series of personal growth essays, the book hopes to reap profits for charities important to these fathers of tragedy.

Via Paris (although focused on American service) comes a calendar raising funds to support goldstarfathers.com, a site for the grief and support of men who have lost children to war. There is martial art and for every man who contacted producer Blackwell (whose son was blown up by mortar in 2007) about his own loss there is a star noting the day when the child died.

Honoring grieving fathers and helping them honor their children is a noble idea. Unfortunately, it is one thing to hope that only those personally affected guide these products and another to truly believe it will be a long time before random and unconnected folks and businesses start making money off the "father's loss" hook.