Zack Rogow Explores Fatherhood and Literary Legacy in New Memoir
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Distinguished poets and writers have praised Zack Rogow's new memoir, "Hugging My Father’s Ghost," which delves into his father's life, his own journey as a writer, and the healing process following his father's untimely death. The book, published by Cirque Press, offers a unique blend of personal reflection and literary exploration.
Rogow's father, Lee Rogow, was a widely published fiction writer, drama critic for the Hollywood Reporter, and a glamorous man-about-town in Manhattan during the 1950s. He served as a captain of a U.S. Navy landing craft during World War II and tragically died in a plane crash when his son Zack was only three years old. Decades later, Zack embarked on a deep dive into his father's life and legacy, reading his father’s writings and what others wrote about him, to try to understand his lost father.
In "Hugging My Father’s Ghost," Rogow chooses to write as a hybrid memoir, creating conversations between himself and the father he never knew. He also aims to showcase the best of his father's writings, including those Lee published in his lifetime and the stories and journals that remained secret until seventy years after his death. The memoir takes readers on a journey through various locations, from the Upper West Side of New York City to the resort community of Fire Island, revealing long-held family secrets about his parents and godparents.
Zack Rogow, an author, editor, or translator of more than twenty books, has also worked for the theater. His play "Colette Uncensored" has been performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and in London, Indonesia, Catalonia, San Francisco, and Portland. His honors include the PEN/Book-of-the-Month Club Translation Prize, and the Lili Fabilli-Eric Hoffer Essay Prize from the University of California, Berkeley. Rogow's blog, "Advice for Writers," features 300 posts, and his literary translations include works by Colette, George Sand, André Breton, and Marcel Pagnol.
The book received full-length articles in The Guardian, The Times of London, as well as interviews on the BBC, Talk Radio Europe, and more.
The book is set to be published on October 6, 2026, with the ISBN 979-8-90333-744-6.