Theories on Ish's Father ***Potential Spoilers***

[joshg]

Alright people, this is a spot to start spouting your theories as to who Ish's father is.

I'll need to listen to it again, listening specifically for that before I've got a good idea.

[joshg]

Ok, I just listened to all the section of this book that did not take place on-board the Billy.  Here are who I see as potential options for Ish's father:

Mr. Maloney - not likely, probably too old, and would have told Ish at the end
Mr. Nelson in the DST office - very brief meeting, no description given, would be just like Mr. Lowell to slip it by us like that
"Kurt", Mr. Maloney's bodyguard - could have good reasons for not revealing himself, but probably not likely, the wrong build
"Brian", the barkeep at the Corner Pub in Breakall - Description was sufficiently vague, with a focus on the eyes, also, the only option who didn't know Ish's full name, and couldn't have revealed himself.  My money is on this guy.

[d1arkstar]

the fry cook at over easy

listen to the name of ish father and then to the name of the fry cook:)
but I am not sure if that is who it is

[joshg]

You might be right.  The fry cook was "Frank" and Ish never really saw him, so he couldn't have recognized him from the 30 year old picture he has.

I like it.

[Victoria]

Oeh, I love theorising ! I'll join in with my tuppence when I have reread them all....

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Edit to add;

I think d1arkstar is right ! Franklin Wang and Frank the Overeasy cook. One and the same ? That's where I am adding my money, too.

[d1arkstar]

don't forget Franklin is the nickname most people use for Frank

[Laith]

good point. Also might explain Ish's skill in the kitchen... that said Frank is a fairly common name so... who knows.

[Hade]

I don't know if it's good form to post this here, since it's a topic on Double Share, not Captain's Share, but I'd say that given what we have seen of that last book so far, the idea that Ish might be Franklin the fry cook's son seems very unlikely to me.

If he were, I'm willing to bet he would know that for sure by now. It's been at least thirteen years since Ish first set foot in Over Easy, and granted, it doesn't seem like Frank gets out much, at least not to chat with the customers, but at the very least, he would probably have heard of this fellow named Ishmael Wang who is a repeat customer at Over Easy and a big fan of 'Frank's Finest'. 

By the way, I think much of Ish's cooking skill can be explained by having met someone with the talent of a four-star cook and the patience to explain things to his underlings relatively early in his life.

[quandmeme]

I like the poetry of the blue collar worker and the academic with the lit professor and Frank from the Diner. Can't think of any other reason for Nate to constantly remind us "thanks, Frank" and "Frank's finest."

But help me not read too much into the gender thing: Ish just told Thomas that his mom preferred women and Over Easy has all male servers. Is that tangential or does that speak to Ish's apparent ability to be reasonably balanced in his appetites?

[d1arkstar]

that just means his mom was bi

[Laith]

There is also the reference over in Captain's Share to how Frank's cooking always reminding him of home.

I think saying that at some point Frank would have been informed of an Ishmael Wang frequenting the establishment is a bit of a stretch. When I was younger my grandmother and I went to an establishment similar to Frank's every Sat morning. While we were on first name with the waitstaff and head cook none of us ever used last names...

So while maybe someone has mentioned to Frank that "Ishmael" stopped by chances are that he wouldn't think anything of it... after all what are the chances that his son who should be in a completely different quadrant would happen upon his restaurant.

[Zeus Legion]

Ishmael isn't exactly a common first name even in the Traderverse. Methinks Frank is a red herring. Considering Ish has done just fine without him for 20 years, I wouldn't be surprised if his father never makes an appearance in the series. In real life, some mysteries just go unanswered.

[joshg]

Ishmael isn't exactly a common first name even in the Traderverse. Methinks Frank is a red herring. Considering Ish has done just fine without him for 20 years, I wouldn't be surprised if his father never makes an appearance in the series. In real life, some mysteries just go unanswered.

I think I'm with you on this one.

It would appear to me, so far at least, that Mr. Lowell has inspired to to chase our tails on the father issue, metaphorically speaking.

[Laith]

All very true. But while Ishmael is certainly not common given the size of the universe we are talking about I'm sure there must be one or two others drifting around out there...

I too am fairly sure it will turn out that daddy never turns up, but speculation is fun!

[annoyance]

Firstly, I'd like to say I feel uncomfortable climbing into someone else's world and knocking down it's walls to discover it's secrets.  That said, it doesn't seem I could do much more damage to this room.  I have only seen three possible fathers for, at this time, Young Ishmael.
1. Frank, for all of the obvious reasons.  For those same reasons I doubt it's him.  Another reason I think it might not be Frank is something narrator Ish said in CS, "There's always a Frank...".  More than one Frank?  More than one Father?

2. Kurt, at the very least there is something going on with Kurt.  Bodyguard? To borrow from another podiobook author, Har!!!  It fails the smell test!  Just because he's more than likely the big cheese at DST or somewhere else I'm not convinced he's the daddy.  It would explain the title "Owner's Share".

3. Mr. Voorhees, I mention him basically because I either read or heard somewhere that Ish could see him and work with him and never know it. If it's anyone on the Billy.  It has to Mr. Voorhees.  He would make a fine father too.

This is all just feeble pondering.  Take it that way.