Did you know Tony Danza wrote a book about his time as a teacher? Neither did I until I was preparing to be his conversation partner at Indiana Comic Convention 2025. I must say, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Tony Danza is a beloved actor who got his start in the 70s with Taxi, but before that, he earned a teaching degree. I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had [Buy Bookshop Amazon LibroFM] is Tony’s perspective on a time when he thought he was done acting and might start teaching. It spawned a reality show called Teach, so this book has the benefit of sharing real dialogue thanks to those tapes.

For the show, Mr. Danza became a 10th grade English teacher at an urban Philadelphia high school. He only taught one class because he was a brand new teacher, but he took it seriously. This book allows Danza to open up about what he was thinking and feeling as he tried to make a difference on his students while battling TV executives and learning along the way himself.

I flew through this book. Danza’s writing is extremely conversational and you can clearly hear his voice in your head. It feels genuine, with his passion for education shining through. Books covering a large span of time can feel like they drag, but that is not the case for I’d Like to Apologize to Every Teacher I Ever Had. Danza paced this book well, hitting the major moments without feeling like you’re missing something or meandering through a whole year.

I was shocked see less-than-stellar reviews on Goodreads since I loved it so much. I started reading some of the negative ones out of curiosity. However, what I found was not critiques of Danza’s writing or the book itself. Most of the negative reviews are from teachers complaining that it’s not realistic since he only taught one class a day instead of six and had a financial cushion, so of course he was able to go above and beyond in some of his efforts. I wrote a full rant about my thoughts on this, but I think I’ll post it separately so it doesn’t take away from what I feel is truly a great book.

Bottom line: it’s worth a read.