Dear 'GMA' Advice Guru Top 20 Finalists: Philip Van Munching

Nov. 26, 2010 — -- Philip Van Munching from Darien, Conn., is a finalist in the Dear GMA Advice Guru Contest. Read his application below!

Essay

Why am I the perfect GMA advice guru? It comes down to what I am and what I'm not. What I am is a New York Times bestselling author of advice books. What I am is the guy that an awful lot of folks come to for advice. I've been an author, a teacher, an executive, a friend, a son, a husband and a father and in all these roles, I've taken pride in my ability to really listen, and then to give thoughtful, well-reasoned and loving advice, even when that advice is maybe not what someone wants to hear. I've counseled friends through work stuff, social stuff, child-raising stuff and every stage of relationships, from how to gauge the interest of the person they just started dating to how to put their ex-husband in the rearview and find a way to look forward, again. Here's what I'm not: I'm not a doctor. I think what's made my advice books so successful is that I don't use five-dollar words; I try very hard to make sure that what I have to say is colloquial, straightforward and unpretentious. And I guess it's working: the compliment I've gotten most often on my books is that reading them is like having a conversation with a friend. That's a pretty great thing to hear, and along with the obvious qualifications you're looking for, like ease on-camera (check!) and an ability to write compelling stuff for the GMA website (check!), I think my accessibility is what makes me most qualified to be the GMA advice guru.

What's the best advice you have ever given? What was the result?

When my daughter's boyfriend was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma last year -- at all of 17 years old, can you imagine? -- I noticed that she was going sleepless…and feeling helpless. I sat her down and said, Anna, he's got doctors to deal with the medical stuff and neighbors to support his family. You concentrate on HIM. When you can, go to his treatments. Be in the room. Listen when he talks. But also make sure you're taking care of you -- your health, your schoolwork -- so that when you do get to be with him, you're really with him. Anna, who I'm nominating for sainthood, took my advice and humbled her mom and me with how much she was able to do for her boyfriend while juggling senior year of high school, college applications, etc. (They're now both freshmen, Anna at Wellesley and Alex at Tufts, and they're still together.)