Stephen Graham father-son book 'really special'

A Brighton-based lecturer who worked with Adolescence creator and star Stephen Graham on a book exploring manhood says there is "something really special" about how it has come together.

Emmy-winning actor Graham invited people to share their experiences for a book called Letters to Our Sons, published on Thursday.

Orly Klein, who described the collaboration with Graham as "an amazing stroke of luck", said while big names pepper the book, it makes clear that fatherhood is a "great leveller".

She told BBC Radio Sussex: "It doesn't matter how successful you are, it doesn't matter how cool the entire world thinks you are, your teenager still finds you mortifying."

Danny Dyer, Romesh Ranganathan, Louis Theroux, and Loyle Carner are among those who have contributed, though their entries are mixed in with others rather than being "highlighted".

Dads across Sussex, including Dan Flanagan, founder of Worthing-based Dad La Soul, also submitted letters.

Graham previously said he hoped the book would be a be a "continuation of the message of Adolescence", the Netflix series which explored toxic masculinity and the impact of mobile phones and social media on teenagers and family life.

Psychology lecturer Klein said the project was inspired by her decision to ask men to write to her son when he became a teenager.

The subject? "What they think makes a good man," she said.

After receiving about 20 "funny" and "moving" letters, Klein began telling people about what she had read.

"There was a comment from someone one day saying, 'that would make a great book', so I started working on the proposal," she said.

The link up with Graham, who contributed a letter to his own son for the book, was "an amazing stroke of luck", Klein said.

She was talking with a friend visiting from Australia who had recently started working at a literary agency and was happy to receive her proposal.

A day after she sent it, her friend replied that she thought it was a good idea, adding: "By the way, I know Stephen Graham, would you mind if I ran this past him?"

Klein paused for "0.3 seconds" before agreeing, she said.

Klein added: "All these dads have just taken the time to sit down and think about what they wanted to say, and how they were going to say it, and I think there's something really special about that."

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