Well, it's been all of three months since Amy Winehouse's tragic passing—surely it's time for a family member to step up and publish a memoir about her life, right? Something that covers her childhood, her singing career, and of course her struggles with substance abuse?

It seems her father, Mitch Winehouse, is up for the task. HarperCollins recently announced they had purchased rights to Amy, My Daughter, which will be published worldwide in the summer of 2012.

One thing's for sure: between setting up a charity in her name, performing his own music at an upcoming Amy Winehouse Foundation event, and now publishing a book about his daughter, Mitch Winehouse hasn't exactly stayed in the background since his daughter's death.

I know everyone grieves in their own way, and I think it's admirable Mitch Winehouse is working to help other young people struggling with addiction. But it all seems a bit weird—sort of too much, too soon. Before Amy was even laid to rest, Mitch had announced his plans to set up the Amy Winehouse Foundation. Under what had to be terribly sad and difficult circumstances, he accepted charitable donations—then had to return them when there was confusion over the organization's name.

I think his heart is probably in the right place, but it seems to me that he could use some time to process her death before plunging full-tilt into writing a memoir about her. He seems to be putting his full efforts into keeping her memory alive, and granting her the posthumous power of creating some sort of lasting positive effect through the charity ... but is this the healthiest way for him to deal with his loss?

Of the upcoming book, Mitch said:

I feel that I need to write this book to tell the true story of Amy and to help with my personal recovery. I also want to raise as much money as possible for Amy's foundation, so all proceeds from the book will go directly to help children who are disadvantaged through illness and substance addiction. I believe that through Amy's music, her foundation, and this book, her name will live forever.

That last sentence seems very telling, don't you think? Of course any parent would want their child's name to live on forever. But is this book really what she would have wanted? Or is it something designed to capitalize on the fans' interest while sharing her personal information with the public?

I'm sure he means well, but I hope Mitch Winehouse doesn't look back on this time and wish he'd handled things differently. I can't imagine what kind of pain he's going through, and if the book really does help him recover, well ... I hope it was a worthy pursuit.

What do you think of the memoir? Will you buy it?



Image via AmyWinehouse.com