In “Pops,” Craig Melvin confronts his father’s addiction, regret, and a stunning revelation that changes everything.QN

NBC News anchor Craig Melvin has spent years delivering the headlines with calm precision — but behind that polished exterior lies a story far more personal than any news broadcast. In his memoir “Pops: Learning to Be a Son and a Father,” Melvin pulls back the curtain on a relationship that shaped him in ways few viewers could imagine: his turbulent bond with his father, Lawrence Melvin, a man once consumed by alcohol and gambling.

The book opens with a stunning revelation — Melvin’s father was born in a federal prison in West Virginia — a detail symbolic of the generational struggles that defined their family. For much of his youth, Craig saw his dad as “a drunk,” a man who worked tirelessly as a postal employee but couldn’t escape his addictions. Years of therapy, faith, and fatherhood forced Craig to confront the pain of his past and see addiction not as a moral failure but as a disease.

Writing Pops became an act of reconciliation. “I’ve only done it to help myself heal, to help my father heal, and to hopefully help people who read this,” he explained. Through their interviews, Craig found that his father wasn’t defensive — he was ready. “It was as if he’d been waiting his whole life for someone to finally ask.”

Their conversations uncovered decades of silence. Lawrence had carried the shame of being born in prison, a truth he never discussed growing up in the segregated South. “Back then, especially in Black families, you didn’t talk about those things,” Craig recalled. “He was shaped by secrets he never had the freedom to share.”

Amid the pain, Pops is also a tribute — to resilience, forgiveness, and the strength of Craig’s mother, who quietly kept the family together. While his father wrestled with addiction, his mother became, in Craig’s words, “three times the parent any one person should have to be.” She pushed her children to dream bigger than their circumstances — urging Craig to compete in speech contests, study hard, and believe that life held more than hardship.

The symbolism of Lawrence’s once-beloved 1973 Pontiac LeMans runs throughout the book — at first, a gleaming sign of pride and identity, later a rusting reflection of a life in decline. “When he stopped caring for the car,” Craig writes, “it was clear he’d stopped caring about himself.”

Today, the Melvin men have found peace. Lawrence is sober, driving a humble Honda Civic, and Craig, now a father of two, leads a life defined by gratitude and awareness. His experiences have made him a passionate advocate for honest conversations about fatherhood, race, and mental health.

As Melvin puts it, “We don’t talk enough about how a parent’s addiction can echo through generations — until we find the courage to face it.”

In Pops, he finally does — and in doing so, gives countless others permission to do the same.