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David Wain made his first impression as an entertainer as part of a sketch comedy troupe, 鈥淭he State鈥� on MTV, in the early 1990s. Members of that group would go on to make 鈥淲et Hot American Summer," a 2001 film about summer camp.

The film bombed at the box office but subsequently became a cult favorite. Wain and his comedy colleagues have continued this streak with a number of other films and TV shows, including a new series on Netflix called 鈥淢edical Police.鈥�

David Wain's father, Norman, started as a Cleveland disc jockey in the 1950s.

Norman Wain behind the microphone at WDOK in the 1950s [David Wain]

Norman Wain later became a salesman at pop music station WHK, where he helped book the Beatles' first local appearance at Public Auditorium in 1964. Then he and two partners started their own station, WIXY, better known as 鈥淲IXY 1260.鈥�

WIXY quickly dominated the local airwaves by sponsoring numerous concerts, Thanksgiving parades and community appreciation days. Norman Wain told me in 2011, that this work was much more satisfying than spinning records.

鈥淚 needed something more intellectual to challenge me than just to play another record or become a bigger D.J.鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd being a salesman and being a manager and being an owner really gave me a tremendous challenge and was much more gratifying.鈥�

He continued to make his mark in town as a philanthropist and as a board member of WCPN. In a recent conversation, David Wain reflected on the bonds between fathers and sons as well as the legacy of his dad, who died last month at the age of 92. Part of that legacy was changing the family name, originally Weinstock.

鈥淲ell, my father grew up 鈥榃einstock,鈥欌�� David said. 鈥淗e changed it when he was a radio announcer; he wanted something snappier. And at the time, leading with your Jewishness was not a good idea. And so he changed it to Wain, although he in later life said he regretted it because he felt like he would have done better in the business world as an obvious Jew.鈥�

A strong memory for David Wain was the amount of time his father set aside for his family 鈥� a quality that he says is hard to emulate these days.

鈥淚鈥檝e got to say, the whole culture was so different at the time, because there was no internet,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd so, people didn't work 24/7 in the same way. And yet, he was an entrepreneur, building businesses, working hard, traveling sometimes, but mostly he was home at the dinner table at 6:00 every night. He was very unbelievably present as a father and doing so much for his business and doing so much for the community at the same time and taking care of himself and playing tennis all the time and going on vacation with my mom. He somehow figured it all out.鈥�

Although David Wain was a child during the prime years for WIXY, he grew up with a strong sense of the station鈥檚 impact.

Some of the top hits on WIXY in December 1966. [David C. Barnett]

鈥淲IXY was such a force in Cleveland throughout that time,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 had no choice but to really know about it growing up in my house. And we had the T-shirts and the posters, and people would stop my father on the street when I was a kid and say, 鈥極h my God, WIXY changed my life. We used to drive from Detroit just to listen to it. You know, we would drive and just parked the car just to, like, take in the aura of this incredible radio station.鈥� Radio is just not the same all-wielding force that it was.鈥�

David Wain and his sisters often referred to their dad as Mr. Superlative, due to his ever-present enthusiasm.

鈥淗e'd come to my house, and I'd give him an apple and some peanut butter,鈥� he said. 鈥淗e鈥檇 say things like, 鈥楾his is one of the best lunches I think I've ever had in my life!鈥� And I think what gave him a long, happy life is he really lived in the present tense. He didn't look backwards that much. You know, people would always come up to him, and be like, you know, 鈥楲et's do a big celebration about WIXY or the past, or, you know, he brought the Beatles to Cleveland.鈥� All these incredible stories. And he鈥檇 say, 鈥業'm excited about today, I'm excited about what I'm doing next week,鈥� even into his 90s. So, I think that was always something that inspired me.鈥�

Father and son also shared a tendency to take chances and experiment, when everybody else was telling you: 鈥淣o.鈥�.

鈥淚 think my father instilled that in me,鈥� he said. 鈥淛ust the idea of, you know, for me making a movie like 鈥榃et Hot American Summer:鈥� We had no money, we had nobody really believing in it from the outside. But we were like, 鈥榃e love this. Let's just go for it and make it happen, you know, by hook or crook.鈥� And that's sort of the indie filmmaking spirit, which is exactly what I think my father had with WIXY and his partners, just saying, like, you know, 'Let's do these crazy promotions. Let's take a risk. Let's piss people off. Who cares? Let's make it happen,' you know? And that was exciting.鈥�

Wain and two of his old friends from "The State," Michael Ian Black and Craig Wedren, will be contemplating the happy and the challenging sides of fatherhood in a The conversation will center around Black鈥檚 new memoir, 鈥淎 Better Man: A (Mostly Serious) Letter to My Son.鈥�

鈥淎nd it's basically a letter to his son about the challenges and opportunities of trying to define yourself in this modern world... that's changing so fast and what it is to be a man,鈥� David Wain said. 鈥淲hat it means and what it could mean.鈥�

That includes a consideration of toxic masculinity, in a time when the issues of identity and equality for women are prominent in the cultural conversation.

鈥淚n some cases, men have been left without clear guidance as to where our place is in the better world and what it is to be a better man,鈥� he said. "And he's really going deep and exploring those issues."

And any discussion about raising boys will no doubt include a mention of Norman Wain.

鈥淚 feel myself channeling him - or trying to aspire to his level - every day and repeating things to my kids verbatim that he said to me, constantly,鈥� David Wain said.

鈥淚n the last couple of years, he was slowing down quite a bit, but still always, you know, had a nice attitude about it. And he still had that thing of being grateful and saying, 鈥業t's just the most beautiful day I've ever seen.鈥欌��

David and Norman Wain, circa 1975. [David Wain]