Gil R. McGregor
TV broadcast analyst, New Orleans Hornets
Similarities: We’re both pretty tall. We think a lot alike. We both have quick wits and are good with words. I played basketball in high school and college, in the NBA and in Europe. He plays at Lusher and also aspires to play in college and professionally.
We are very close – always were – from Day One. I’m the proudest father you’ll ever meet!
Differences: He probably studies things more – I’m more intuitive and act quickly on my intuition. His math skills are better than mine. He’s got the whole concept of technology down pat. I use it, but not nearly as well as he does. He seems to be calmer than I was at his age. Maybe it’s because I’m an older father. He’s very well-controlled. His nickname is “Smooth.”
Gil O. McGregor
junior, Lusher Charter School
Similarities: I got my passion for basketball from my dad. I’m interested in doing what my dad does, majoring in communications and playing basketball, too. We can sit down and eat 25 or 30 wings while we watch a game! My mom says we sleep alike. I learn from him, and I look up to him.
Differences: I love pizza. I could eat pizza seven days a week, but my dad thinks it’s a snack. He likes these philosophical programs on television – I walk out of the room. I can be shy at times. He’s good at meeting people and at public speaking.
Sam Zurik III
attorney, father of Sam IV and Will
Similarities: My dad and I are both pretty set in our ways. We care a lot about our families. Dad, Lee and I are sports fanatics, especially football. We all love New Orleans. I like to get involved in as many New Orleans activities as possible.
Differences: My dad is a touch more outspoken than I am. I like to travel, and Dad doesn’t. My dad is a racquetball fanatic, while I prefer golf and cards.
Sam Zurik Jr.
businessman
Similarities: Sam, Lee and I are all devoted to our families. We’re 100 percent loyal to our friends. We all have a good sense of humor and we’re outgoing – all Type A personalities. We’re big sports fans, and we’re all very organized. We all had our rehearsal dinners in the Hermes Room at Antoine’s. Sam and I share a name with my father, and now he has Sam IV!
Differences: Sam and Lee love to travel. I don’t. They knew what they wanted to do early in life. Lee wanted to be a sports anchorperson when he was just 9 or 10, and Sam always leaned toward being an attorney. I just knew I wanted to go into some type of business.
Lee Zurik
news anchor, WWL-TV,
father of Eleanor Rose
Similarities: My wife and my mom say my dad and I are similar in too many ways! We’re both very organized, focused and regimented. We stick to a schedule. I’m very family-oriented, and I get that from him. We like the same types of restaurants, and we both like sports. Our family loves movies. We’re not afraid to joke around with other people and poke fun at ourselves.
My dad and I are both always on our phones and always on our e-mails.
Differences: My dad is probably a little gruffer than I am. I measure my words a bit more closely than he does.
John Besh
chef/owner, Besh Restaurant Group, father of Brendan, 13; Jack, 8: Luke, 6; and Andrew, 4
Similarities: All of my sons are different, and yet I’m having fun discovering traits we all have in common, and ways they are like me. Each one has his own personality.
My oldest, Brendan, takes after my wife a lot, but now he’s getting to be like me, too. He is really a great communicator. We share an inquisitive nature and an outgoing social nature. My son Jack is the sweetest guy on earth. Jack and I have a real passion for food and for whipping something up in the kitchen. He’s a people pleaser. Luke is very intense and competitive. Andrew is the youngest, and I’m the youngest son in my family. He’s carefree, lives by the seat of his pants, like me.
Differences: Brendan is passionate and excited about things that don’t interest me in the least. He is very tech-savvy. He likes to read fantasy while I like history. He’s excited about studying the classics when he heads to Jesuit, and when I was his age, I didn’t know what the classics were!
Jack doesn’t have a competitive bone in his body, whereas I’m sometimes too intense. Luke is less social than we are. He’s happy being a loner. And Andrew, he’s happy just being the baby of the family. He has no desire to outdo his brothers.
