Controversial Author James Frey Designs Stroller for Charity
James Frey and the stroller he designed for Bugaboo. Credit: Bugaboo
In honor of World AIDS Day, author James Frey created a custom Bugaboo Cameleon Stroller that’s being auctioned on eBay.
The auction is “to generate money for the Global Fund which finances AIDS grants in Africa, the region hardest hit with this pandemic,” according to a press release.
When he’s not writing, Frey and his wife keep busy with their 5-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son. We spoke to Frey about the auction and his family life.
ParentDish: How did you get involved with this charity?
James Frey: A friend of mine, who works in PR for Bugaboo and was doing work with Bugaboo and (RED), contacted me.
PD: Tell me about your design.
JF: You know, they sent me a stroller. (Laughs.) And they were like, do something cool with it. I’m a father to two young children and we’re constantly reading books and learning our letters and saying the ABCs. And I’m a writer who literally makes his living using letters. I wanted to do something that I thought would be cool looking and appropriate to what I do. So I came up with the idea of just plastering letters of different colors and sizes and fonts all over the stroller.
PD: There was an article in Vanity Fair about you being a “PTA dad” at your kids’ school. Do parents ever want to talk to you about your career?
JF: Occasionally. Most of the time I’m just a dad. There are other well-known parents at our children’s school [and] we’re there as the parents of our children, not as whoever we are in our professional lives. I love doing stuff at my kids’ school. They go to a great school and I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m the school tour guide, I was Class Dad twice. I think it’s important to be involved with your kids’ lives and I’m lucky that I have the opportunity to.
PD: Were you one of the only dads to be a class parent?
JF: Yeah. The Class Moms all liked to tease me and make fun of me.