It was no less an authority than Mark Twain who advised, "Write what you know."
Greg Boyle, 34, and Roger Muir, 41, have taken that advice and consequently find themselves sitting at book signings up and down the Wasatch Front this month, autographing copies of their new book, "Like Father, Like Son?"
They have the subject covered both ways.
Greg grew up with a father who was always there while Roger grew up fatherless after his parents divorced when he was 4. He saw his dad once in the next 15 years.
Three years ago, when by coincidence both of their fathers died within three weeks of each other — Nile Muir of a brain aneurism at 69 and Gary D. Boyle of cancer at 68 — the close friends commiserated with each other in their loss.
The more they reminisced, the more they realized just how different their experiences had been.
While Roger's memories rested with a man he loved but barely knew, Greg's were crammed full of father-son episodes he wouldn't trade for a Goldman Sachs bonus.
They decided they should write about what they knew.
They came up with a list of seminal childhood events common to each of them — things like "Little League Baseball," "First Fight," "Trouble With the Law," "Camping & Fishing," "Attending College" and "Buying a House" — that they would write about.
Roger's would be from the "On My Own" camp and Greg's from the "With My Dad" perspective.
To show that they weren't just talk, that they were actually going to write their book, just weeks after their fathers' funerals they told their wives and sons — Roger has four boys, Greg two — they'd be back when they were finished and hied off to a condo in Park City.
Three days later they returned. They had their manuscript. It practically wrote itself.
Along with the "On My Own" and "With My Dad" chapters they added a section encouraging fathers everywhere to hang in there despite divorce, the Call of the Wild, or whatever — and encouraging those children, no matter how old they might be, who are harboring bitterness for dad absenteeism to mend the bridges and reach out in conciliation.
Their bottom line is that no matter how hard you try to overrate it, you will still underrate fatherhood.
Their book cites sobering statistics from America's prisons that reveal that 85 percent of convicts are from fatherless homes. Also, 63 percent of youth suicides involve children who grew up without a father. And among high school dropouts, 71 percent didn't grow up with a dad.
Both men — Roger, especially — caution that growing up fatherless doesn't guarantee a life of failure and misery.
"But the percentages of success are so much more in your favor if you grow up with a father," Roger says.
Besides — as Greg's stories clearly demonstrate when juxtaposed with Roger's stories — having Dad around makes life so much more satisfying and enjoyable.
"What we've written is a call to action about the importance of dads," says Greg. "Kids should know their dads and dads should know their kids."
With Father's Day approaching, the topic is particularly pertinent. The authors are in demand. Through their book distributor they signed a deal with Costco stores along the Wasatch Front that called for an initial order of 1,000 books.
They've already sold those and now they're working on the next 1,000.
They'll be at the Costco in Sandy today, in Murray on Thursday, in Lehi on Friday and Orem on Saturday.
Or they can be reached at www.rogermuir.com and www.gregdboyle.com.
Their websites, like their book, are tributes to their dads and to dads everywhere. To these guys, every day should be Father's Day.
Lee Benson's column runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. Please send e-mail to benson@desnews.com.