About the Author:
Children’s Book Author and Human Rights activist Sergio Liden’s first 19 years of his life began running, literally. Fleeing first his country of birth, Spain (Madrid) – under then dictator General Franco – and again from a military coup in Buenos Aires, Argentina, his family came to the United States and settled in sunny Southern California, in the quiet suburbs of Los Angeles when he was 5. But for Sergio, they were anything but quiet. This was just the beginning.
As a survivor of an extremely violent childhood, Liden attended Mountain Avenue Elementary from kindergarten to the sixth grade and Rosemont Jr. High for middle school. Before completing the seventh grade, he was institutionalized for attempted suicide. Being that he was in the throes of alcoholism, he has no recollection of his time in eighth grade and the following year he moved to Argentina to live with his grandmother. Unfortunately, he fell through the cracks again and attended ten different high schools.
Liden credits his counselor and mentor Elin Bradley at Penny Lane Centers for saving his life. She was the one who drove Sergio to his first AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) meeting at age 17. He has been sober ever since and holds a 32-year friendship with Ms. Bradley.
At 19, Sergio became homeless living on the streets, and though he was offered drugs multiple times, he maintained his sobriety. He did this by going to 7 to 10 AA meetings a day. With a lot of help and love, his life took a turn in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. where he met the woman that would later become his wife. From there he became a better counselor, friend, and listener, and found happiness for the first time.
One morning while his daughter was lying on the living room floor, barely able to lift her head, Sergio got the curiosity of lying down next to her and seeing the world from her perspective. He saw that the dining table was nothing but four legs holding “something up,” that the chairs were also just legs holding “something up,” and that the couch was this “long thing” that made no sense. It was at this moment when he realized that he must appear as a giant to his infant daughter and after observing his surroundings from her perspective, he ran over to his office and poured out his first book, Little Itty Bitty’s First Day.
Liden is a big supporter of the Penny Lane Centers and was the keynote speaker at Penny Lane’s 45th annual Voices of Our Children Fundraiser. He also supports the Anti-Recidivism Coalition (ARC), Autism Speaks, EJI (Equal Justice Initiative), and The Help Group, the largest school system for children with autism in Los Angeles.
About Dads Publishing
Dads Publishing is a privately held publishing company started by 2 dads who met in their children’s kindergarten class in Los Angeles. The 2 dads in charge, writer Sergio Liden and Zachary Zemby are dedicated to publishing children’s books that help children better understand their emotions and help parents better understand their own role in life, especially as a parent. For more information, please visit www.dadspublishing.com.
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