My Father, the Giant

Caught in a thoughtless act of cruelty, a young man learns a lesson in compassion from his father, a larger-than-life tribal leader of the Caddo Nation and a veteran of World War II. Years later, the man passes that lesson down to his own son.
Thompson Williams was growing up in Oklahoma as one of eight children during the period he describes, when his father Melford captured his imagination and set his moral compass. Thompson came to StoryCorps with his own son, Kiamichi-tet. “My Father the Giant,” brings their conversation to life.
Directed by: Richard O'Connor
Executive Producer: Dave Isay
Producer: Rachel Hartman
Audio Produced by: Jud Esty-Kendall
Supervising Sound Recordist: Daniel Sitts
Animation by: Ace & Son Moving Picture Co., LLC
Design: Taisiya Zaretskaya
Animators: Taisiya Zaretskaya & Pilar Newton
Production Artists: Morgan Miller & Jade M. Bailey
Original Music: Joshua Abrams
Music Performed by: Joshua Abrams, Hamid Drake, Marquis Hill, Emmett Kelly & Adam Thornburg
Music Mixed by: Joshua Abrams & Neil Strauch
Special Thanks: Thompson Williams & Kiamichi-tet Williams
In Partnership with
NPR
American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress
Funding Provided by
Corporation for Public Broadcasting