Yogi Berra?s dad, an immigrant from northern Italy, didn?t see the point of American sports, but taught Yogi to keep his word and always be on time. Mario Cuomo?s father seemed diminutive (?Maybe he was five foot six if his heels were not worn?), but he once led Mario and his brother in a herculean, nearly impossible effort to hoist and replant a downed 40-foot-tall blue spruce. C. Everett Koop?s dad imparted to his son the crucial difference between...