An Unlikely Pairing
Title: An Unlikely Pairing
Spoilers: None specifically
Rating: PG
Word Count: about 1100
Disclaimer: Recognizable Characters from the Big Bang Theory aren’t mine, just borrowing them for a little while, I’ll put them back, honest!
I tried something very different. This is a future fic in the form of a book review of Sheldon and Penny's biography. Please read the author’s note after the cut before reading the story.
An Unlikely Pairing: A Biography of Sheldon and Penny Cooper; by Leonard Cooper. Amazon.com, 531 pgs, $52.95
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Lenny Cooper presents his self described “labor of love” the long awaited biography of his now reclusive parents. In this, the first authorized biography of either the legendary physicist Sheldon Cooper or his wife Penny, former Congresswoman and current CEO of PBG. Based on meticulous interviews with family and friends...
A/N: This story is a future fic in the form of a book review written in about the year 2045 looking back upon the lives of Sheldon and Penelope Cooper. The nature of this story required that I make some political predictions. For that purpose, I have selected the following individuals: Pres. Barak Obama (D), Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Gov. Timothy Kaine (D-VA), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA). Given that political beliefs are often passionately held, please send any non Sheldon/Penny comments to me via PM. Honest curiosity about my reasons are welcome, I love to debate politics and the role of government. Flames will be saved to heat my house next winter. Thank you for your cooperation.
An Unlikely Pairing: A Biography of Sheldon and Penny Cooper; by Leonard Cooper. Amazon.com, 412pgs, $32.95
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Lenny Cooper presents his self described “labor of love” the long awaited biography of his now reclusive parents. In this, the first authorized biography of either the legendary physicist Sheldon Cooper or his wife Penny, former Congresswoman and current CEO of PBG. Based on meticulous interviews with family and friends, Cooper describes his father’s early years growing up in Texas, his stormy relationship with his sister Missy, and how his deeply religious parents cultivated a passion for science in the boy who would become “possibly the most brilliant American of the 21st Century”. He also describes his mother’s childhood in Omaha and her eventual move to California to seek stardom.
Cooper faithfully traces his father’s early career through schooling in Germany till his arrival at Cal Tech in the early 2000s and his budding friendships with the group that that then Physics Department Chair Dr. Eric Gablehouser would later describe as “that most remarkable collection of talent” Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali. However, in a very real sense, the story doesn’t begin till Cooper describes the meeting of his parents and the development of their relationship.
Cooper argues that his father’s success really did not begin until he met his mother. The pre-Penny Sheldon Cooper, he argues, was an acerbic and difficult colleague often at odds with the University over trivia, his brilliance overshadowed by his temperament. Cooper confirms that his father was actually fired by Gablehouser in 2008, only intervention by his grandmother Mary, forcing a reluctant apology, saved his career at CalTech. His mother was a failing actress, suffering from a string of failed relationships and was working at a chain restaurant living off of tips. Cooper’s parents met in 2008, when his mother left her then live-in boyfriend and moved across the hall from his father and Leonard Hofstadter. His mother quickly befriended both of them as well as Wolowitz and Koothroppali. His parents relationship did not really take off until the following year when his father assisted her in her start up business; Penny Blossoms, which would eventually grow into PBG, which simply stands for “Penny Blossoms and Geniuses”, the company that currently holds 15% of the personal care market in North America. Sheldon Cooper provided Penny the education in her own abilities that she needed to get out of her rut. In return, his mother became the emotional “reality check” he needed as he began to transfer his interests from string theory research into the nature of gravity.
As their relationship blossomed, they became each other’s emotional rock. Married in late 2010, he helped her develop her business and supported her when she became active in the reform wing of the Democratic Party. When she became frustrated by an unresponsive local government, he supported her bid for Pasadena City Council and eventual election to Congress. She helped him learn the importance of human interaction and she also became “his own personal damage control team”.
As his father’s research into the nature of gravity continued, he began to see that manipulating gravity was not only theoretically possible, but may actually be viable with his lifetime. Combining his talents with his friends, the research became his passion, “gravity will one day be like light, we will mold it to suit our ends”. His mother acted as his father’s safety valve. Cooper provided additional insight into his father’s quest for additional funds. His personality did not help, as CNN would put it, he was “the only man personally tossed out of the Oval Office by both Barak Obama and Sarah Palin.” Both times, it was Penny who stubbornly stood her ground and eventually won over both administrations. When he reached a stumbling block in his research, she convinced him to bring in his long time rival Leslie Winkle. They along with Hofstadter, Woolowitz and Koothropali would go on to earn the 2027 Nobel Prize in Physics
Penny Cooper's story is equally fascinating, entwined as it is with her husband's. When she broke with the Kaine administration over tax policy during her second congressional term in 2024, she famously endorsed his Republican opponent, Bobby Jindal, while defiantly wearing a “Hillary 2008” t-shirt over her suit. When Kaine won re-election, She left office to return to PBG and has devoted her energies to that company since. Carefully growing the company and maintaining her “no layoff’ policy through the past three recessions. Cooper relays the struggles his mother undertook to maintain and grow the company, balance career, family, and be an advocate for her beliefs.
What separates Cooper’s book is the human story. While this is a rigorous work, well footnoted, that tells the public story, it is also a loving personal memoir from a son to his remarkable parents. He tells of growing up and listening to his parents debate and argue about everything under the sun. While the disagreements were often loud and passionate, it was a loving home, not a violent one.
When his twin sister Mary, herself a prodigy, announced her intention to major in engineering, his father intoned “do not think that I will support your foolish choice” his mother grabbed his father by the ear and dragged him onto the porch. Ten minutes later, he returned and simply stated “I apologize, I was rude, I am very proud of you” and he meant it. When his mother was away for political or business reasons, his father stepped in and would stop what he was doing to attend plays and sports. Lenny relates that when he told his father he wanted to play little league his father, lacking any sports talent, paid for his uncle to fly in from Nebraska to show him how to play baseball. As the season went on, his father stayed for every practice and game taking notes to help him improve his play.
As Lenny and Mary grew up and were joined by “the second honeymoon surprise of 2025” his other twin sisters Marie and Gerti (named after his father’s “Me Maw”, his paternal great grandmother Gertrude Cooper). The book is full of anecdotes of growing up, spending summers in Nebraska with his mother’s blue collar family and then meeting the elite of the scientific and political world. It is a satisfying book and recommended to all.
Perhaps because it is too personal, Leonard Cooper does not address his parent’s withdrawal from public life in 2039. Nor does he address the persistent rumors about his father’ health, simply stating that his parents have spent 30 years giving their lives to the world, now they simply wish to give them to each other.
Spoilers: None specifically
Rating: PG
Word Count: about 1100
Disclaimer: Recognizable Characters from the Big Bang Theory aren’t mine, just borrowing them for a little while, I’ll put them back, honest!
I tried something very different. This is a future fic in the form of a book review of Sheldon and Penny's biography. Please read the author’s note after the cut before reading the story.
An Unlikely Pairing: A Biography of Sheldon and Penny Cooper; by Leonard Cooper. Amazon.com, 531 pgs, $52.95
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Lenny Cooper presents his self described “labor of love” the long awaited biography of his now reclusive parents. In this, the first authorized biography of either the legendary physicist Sheldon Cooper or his wife Penny, former Congresswoman and current CEO of PBG. Based on meticulous interviews with family and friends...
A/N: This story is a future fic in the form of a book review written in about the year 2045 looking back upon the lives of Sheldon and Penelope Cooper. The nature of this story required that I make some political predictions. For that purpose, I have selected the following individuals: Pres. Barak Obama (D), Gov. Sarah Palin (R-AK), Gov. Timothy Kaine (D-VA), Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA). Given that political beliefs are often passionately held, please send any non Sheldon/Penny comments to me via PM. Honest curiosity about my reasons are welcome, I love to debate politics and the role of government. Flames will be saved to heat my house next winter. Thank you for your cooperation.
An Unlikely Pairing: A Biography of Sheldon and Penny Cooper; by Leonard Cooper. Amazon.com, 412pgs, $32.95
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Lenny Cooper presents his self described “labor of love” the long awaited biography of his now reclusive parents. In this, the first authorized biography of either the legendary physicist Sheldon Cooper or his wife Penny, former Congresswoman and current CEO of PBG. Based on meticulous interviews with family and friends, Cooper describes his father’s early years growing up in Texas, his stormy relationship with his sister Missy, and how his deeply religious parents cultivated a passion for science in the boy who would become “possibly the most brilliant American of the 21st Century”. He also describes his mother’s childhood in Omaha and her eventual move to California to seek stardom.
Cooper faithfully traces his father’s early career through schooling in Germany till his arrival at Cal Tech in the early 2000s and his budding friendships with the group that that then Physics Department Chair Dr. Eric Gablehouser would later describe as “that most remarkable collection of talent” Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz and Rajesh Koothrappali. However, in a very real sense, the story doesn’t begin till Cooper describes the meeting of his parents and the development of their relationship.
Cooper argues that his father’s success really did not begin until he met his mother. The pre-Penny Sheldon Cooper, he argues, was an acerbic and difficult colleague often at odds with the University over trivia, his brilliance overshadowed by his temperament. Cooper confirms that his father was actually fired by Gablehouser in 2008, only intervention by his grandmother Mary, forcing a reluctant apology, saved his career at CalTech. His mother was a failing actress, suffering from a string of failed relationships and was working at a chain restaurant living off of tips. Cooper’s parents met in 2008, when his mother left her then live-in boyfriend and moved across the hall from his father and Leonard Hofstadter. His mother quickly befriended both of them as well as Wolowitz and Koothroppali. His parents relationship did not really take off until the following year when his father assisted her in her start up business; Penny Blossoms, which would eventually grow into PBG, which simply stands for “Penny Blossoms and Geniuses”, the company that currently holds 15% of the personal care market in North America. Sheldon Cooper provided Penny the education in her own abilities that she needed to get out of her rut. In return, his mother became the emotional “reality check” he needed as he began to transfer his interests from string theory research into the nature of gravity.
As their relationship blossomed, they became each other’s emotional rock. Married in late 2010, he helped her develop her business and supported her when she became active in the reform wing of the Democratic Party. When she became frustrated by an unresponsive local government, he supported her bid for Pasadena City Council and eventual election to Congress. She helped him learn the importance of human interaction and she also became “his own personal damage control team”.
As his father’s research into the nature of gravity continued, he began to see that manipulating gravity was not only theoretically possible, but may actually be viable with his lifetime. Combining his talents with his friends, the research became his passion, “gravity will one day be like light, we will mold it to suit our ends”. His mother acted as his father’s safety valve. Cooper provided additional insight into his father’s quest for additional funds. His personality did not help, as CNN would put it, he was “the only man personally tossed out of the Oval Office by both Barak Obama and Sarah Palin.” Both times, it was Penny who stubbornly stood her ground and eventually won over both administrations. When he reached a stumbling block in his research, she convinced him to bring in his long time rival Leslie Winkle. They along with Hofstadter, Woolowitz and Koothropali would go on to earn the 2027 Nobel Prize in Physics
Penny Cooper's story is equally fascinating, entwined as it is with her husband's. When she broke with the Kaine administration over tax policy during her second congressional term in 2024, she famously endorsed his Republican opponent, Bobby Jindal, while defiantly wearing a “Hillary 2008” t-shirt over her suit. When Kaine won re-election, She left office to return to PBG and has devoted her energies to that company since. Carefully growing the company and maintaining her “no layoff’ policy through the past three recessions. Cooper relays the struggles his mother undertook to maintain and grow the company, balance career, family, and be an advocate for her beliefs.
What separates Cooper’s book is the human story. While this is a rigorous work, well footnoted, that tells the public story, it is also a loving personal memoir from a son to his remarkable parents. He tells of growing up and listening to his parents debate and argue about everything under the sun. While the disagreements were often loud and passionate, it was a loving home, not a violent one.
When his twin sister Mary, herself a prodigy, announced her intention to major in engineering, his father intoned “do not think that I will support your foolish choice” his mother grabbed his father by the ear and dragged him onto the porch. Ten minutes later, he returned and simply stated “I apologize, I was rude, I am very proud of you” and he meant it. When his mother was away for political or business reasons, his father stepped in and would stop what he was doing to attend plays and sports. Lenny relates that when he told his father he wanted to play little league his father, lacking any sports talent, paid for his uncle to fly in from Nebraska to show him how to play baseball. As the season went on, his father stayed for every practice and game taking notes to help him improve his play.
As Lenny and Mary grew up and were joined by “the second honeymoon surprise of 2025” his other twin sisters Marie and Gerti (named after his father’s “Me Maw”, his paternal great grandmother Gertrude Cooper). The book is full of anecdotes of growing up, spending summers in Nebraska with his mother’s blue collar family and then meeting the elite of the scientific and political world. It is a satisfying book and recommended to all.
Perhaps because it is too personal, Leonard Cooper does not address his parent’s withdrawal from public life in 2039. Nor does he address the persistent rumors about his father’ health, simply stating that his parents have spent 30 years giving their lives to the world, now they simply wish to give them to each other.