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Gold Star Father’s New Book Explores Sacrifice And Strength

WUNC | By Laura Pellicer,
Frank Stasio
Published November 7, 2017 at 12:28 PM EST
Khizr Khan, father of fallen US Army Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan speaks as his wife Ghazala listens during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Thursday, July 28, 2016.
J. Scott Applewhite
/
AP Photo
Khizr Khan, father of fallen US Army Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan speaks as his wife Ghazala listens during the final day of the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia , Thursday, July 28, 2016.

 Khizr Khan stepped onstage and into the public eye at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. He says he was compelled to talk after then candidate Donald Trump proposed a ban on Muslims entering the U.S. 

Host Frank Stasio speaks with Khizr Khan, a gold star father and author of “An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice”.

But as he shares with host Frank Stasio, despite being warned there would be backlash, he was not prepared for the extent of vitriol he and his wife experienced. Khan is the Gold Star Father of U.S. Army Captain Humayun Khan who earned a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star after he was killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.

Khan’s new book is “An American Family: A Memoir of Hope and Sacrifice” (Penguin Random House/ 2017). Khan speaks at Pullen Memorial Baptist Church in Raleighat 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 7. That event is sponsored by Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh and moderated by Stasio. 

Copyright 2017 North Carolina Public Radio
Local News
Laura Pellicer
Laura Pellicer is a producer with The State of Things (hyperlink), a show that explores North Carolina through conversation. Laura was born and raised in Montreal, Quebec, a city she considers arrestingly beautiful, if not a little dysfunctional. She worked as a researcher for CBC Montreal and also contributed to their programming as an investigative journalist, social media reporter, and special projects planner. Her work has been nominated for two Canadian RTDNA Awards. Laura loves looking into how cities work, pursuing stories about indigenous rights, and finding fresh voices to share with listeners. Laura is enamored with her new home in North Carolina—notably the lush forests, and the waves where she plans on moonlighting as a mediocre surfer.
See stories by Laura Pellicer
Frank Stasio
Longtime NPR correspondent Frank Stasio was named permanent host of The State of Things in June 2006. A native of Buffalo, Frank has been in radio since the age of 19. He began his public radio career at WOI in Ames, Iowa, where he was a magazine show anchor and the station's News Director.
See stories by Frank Stasio