Bestselling Author Brad Meltzer Is in Search Of Heroes

Brad Meltzer may have what some call a bit of a hero complex -- and the bestselling author said it is because of his son.

Already enamored to him via comic books, thrillers and now the History Channel's upcoming "Brad Meltzer's Decoded," his fans packed inside Coral Gables' Books and Books to get to know Brad the Dad, who gathered an assortment of hero tales -- 52 to be exact -- to share with the pint-sized Little League slugger.

"I said I'm gonna find heroes throughout history from Jim Henson to Rosa Parks," said Meltzer. "I said I'll fill this book with 50 heroes for my son to learn from."

The book, "Heroes For My Son," is the author's first foray into nonfiction. Son Jonas, wearing a T-shirt that boasted "Re-Stock Soon," cheered him on during the recent reading.

Inspired by the Wright brothers' famed resilience to crashing, Brad began writing "Heroes" eight years ago the night Jonas was born as his son's road map of sorts.

"I wanted my son to hear that story and to know that if you work hard, have a dream and a bit of stubbornness you can do anything in this world," he said.

Many moons ago, after Brad's father lost his job, he packed the family up to move South from Brooklyn to Florida and stashed two bottles of Champagne under the car seat, one of which he popped the cork for at Brad's wedding to his high school sweetheart Cori.

"I didn't buy a bottle of Champagne. That's not what I do. I tell stories," Brad said. "So I shared amazing stories with my son."

"Heroes" includes history stalwarts like Martin Luther King Jr., Muhammad Ali and Amelia Earhart to those lesser known.

Says Brad: "I've always believed it's ordinary people who change the world. The book is about what all of us are capable of on our very best days."

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