Join The Good Men Project and Salary.com in celebrating the fathers of the 21st century.
What makes a father? What are the qualities of a good father? What about a memorable father? How has your father shaped your notions of masculinity, and what kind of father you hope to be, or partner with in raising your own children? How is fatherhood changing? Here are some answers, letters full of love, reflections of pride, and portraits of fatherly devotion.
Men, Money, and Kids
Tom Matlack is a venture capitalist and a father. Guess where he has come closest to losing what’s truly important.
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I Love it When You Call Me Big Poppa: A Black Writer Faces Fatherhood
Geoffrey Philp and his wife had just received the best and most terrifying news of their lives: they were expecting a baby. How would he provide for his family as a struggling writer? More importantly, would he be able to be the father he wanted to be?
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It Takes More Than Sperm to Make a Father
Christopher Banks, who is adopted, says that biology is irrelevant when it comes to fatherhood.
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Foster Parent’s Father’s Day
Robin Dodge and his spouse are a Queer couple who have faced infertility. Now they are hopeful: they are in the process of being licensed to foster-adopt.
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Dads Are More Than Just Sexy Helpmates
Mike Reynolds doesn’t just help his wife: he’s a potent and caring parent to their daughters. And that is sexy.
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Marriage, Fatherhood, and Baby Rocketship
Between a difficult pregnancy, graduate school, and an internship in DC, Kate Ditzler’s husband exhibits what it means to be a true father and partner.
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One Dad’s Journey of Parental Leave
Lisa D’Annolfo Levey, a consultant in work/life balance, tells the story of world-traveling business consultant Roy Marden: the last person anyone thought would want to take care of a baby full-time.
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Welcome to the Club
Parents always tell parents-to-be the same thing, to which David L. Hill replies, “Did you all get together and rehearse this answer? Will you invite me to practice it with you once I’m a dad, and if so, will there be beer? I sort of figured my life would change, what with the baby and all. You want to be a little more specific?”
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My Fourth Father’s Day
Seth Dombach says that being the father of a daughter is one of the hardest jobs ever: you are molding her into the woman she will become, someday.
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The Road Diary of a Stay at Home Dad
Don’t pity stay at home dad Jeff Bogle: he manages to get away a few times a year: the Grammys, sport fishing in Florida. But he’s still the guy in the airport clutching a teddy bear and missing his kids.
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Are Your Kids Proud of You?
Dan Zevin is one dad who dares to ask.
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Dad-isms: What Are Your Father’s Most Memorable Words of Wisdom?
Nicole Johnson remembers the advice her father repeated all the time, and how it’s helped shape her.
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5 Lessons From Dad
Brandon Ferdig reminds us that the utterly unself-conscious Dads of the world have much to teach us about dancing in front of other people, and other ways of being memorable.
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He’s Crafty: Crafting With Boys
Meg Rosker encourages dads to think of crafts as a creative bonding activity for boys as well as girls.
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About Ducks
Bryce Emley’s essay about his father’s den is not about the ducks.
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My Dad Never Told Me He Loved Me. And That’s Perfectly Fine.
The world has changed from the one that Ali Rizvi’s father was born into, in pre-partition Pakistan in the 1930s. Now that Ali is contemplating fatherhood, he says that and he will probably be the kind of man who says, “I love you,” to his children.
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My Father’s House
Heather Barnes loves her father. These are the photographs she has taken of the house where he lives, and where time stands still.
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Character Lesson
Ulysses’ father seemed to believe that what didn’t kill you, built character.
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Rain Lilies
The fickle blooms remind Geoffrey Philp of the man who gave him life, and more.
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The Sound of Bullfrogs
Dave Sanfacon listens as the bullfrogs croaking in the Vermont woods define and guard the night, and wonders why his father can’t do the same.
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A Gay Son’s Wish on Father’s Day
Matt Vega’s relationship with his father soured after he turned eight, and began to realize he was gay.
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Father Dream (Pieces): A Poem
The father Rick Belden escaped returns in unexpected ways.
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To the Father I Never Knew on Father’s Day
Erik Proulx never hated his father, “a wonderful person with a terrible sickness”: heroin addiction.
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Dear Dad: A Letter
Dr. Christopher Kilmartin has done much to make his dad proud: he has a Ph.D and a job where people ask him to think. His dad died over 30 years ago, but Chris hasn’t stopped having conversations with him: about sports, life, and being a man.
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The Idol I Remember, The Man I Never Knew
Collin Slattery’s father ran a marathon six months after his first bone marrow transplant, just to prove that he could.
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Father Figures: A Song For You
Higher Unlearning launches a special series called ‘Father Figures’, featuring author Colwyn Burchall Jr, which looks at the bond and special moments between children and their fathers & father figures.
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In the Maternity Ward: A Poem
Tim Stobierski’s touching portrait of a new father holding his son for the first time.
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A Tribute to My Father: The First Good Man I Ever Loved
Nicole Johnson has so much to be grateful for in her father. These are just some of the reasons: a Father’s Day gift of thanks.
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My Dad
Heather N. writes of the moments that define the loving bond she shares with her father.
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I Know a Man
Tonia Zemek writes in praise of the man who has set the bar high for all future men in his daughter’s life.
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Why Fathers Matter
Shawn Maxam, of ‘For Shawnel,’ writes for his nephew on the crisis in Black fatherhood in America. “We need fathers, father-figures, coaches and mentors to be celebrated year round, but we also need them to be present every day.”
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Ode to the Weekend Dad
Alison Leigh Lilly hands it to her partner for a job well done, and doesn’t smirk if the kids’ socks don’t match.
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Fatherhood by Proxy
How Michael Riedlinger learned to be a father in a fatherless family.
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3 Ways My Mom Taught Me How to Be a Dad
Jay Palter is “Home Made Dad.” He learned the most vital principles of being a parent from his mom.
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My Deceptively Inept Dad
“It took my two brothers and me exactly six seconds to convince my dad to let us ride on the roof of the station wagon.”
How Travis Gasper’s father’s irresponsible decisions saved his family.
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25 Failsafe* Rules For Dads Raising Daughters
Marcus Williams and Joanna Schroeder offer 25 rules to help build close bonds between daddies and their little girls.
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The Father Effect—A Short Film About the Importance of Dads
John Finch’s father committed suicide when he was only 11 years old, but it wasn’t until John had disappeared into alcohol and other self-destructive behaviors that he saw just how deep his “father wound” was.
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At-Home Dads Feel Right at Home
Al Watts reports on a new study that reveals the truth about at-home dads and how these men are changing the workplace.
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10 Things I May or May Not Have Learned From My Dad but Probably Should Have
Andy Hinds’ dad is a shining example of masculinity. Here’s ten ways.
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Two Men and a Baby
Nick Florest knows what other people see when they go out with his friend’s baby daughter: two guys who don’t know what they’re doing. But Nick has known his friend since childhood, and what a good father he has become. Inspiring.
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D’oh! Top 5 Things My Father Got Wrong
Jamie Reidy offers a tonic for the life-affirming pearls of wisdom offered by other grateful sons and daughters this Father’s Day. Funny stuff.
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Son of a Famous Man
John Manchester’s father wrote about JFK and battled the Kennedys for the right to publish his book. “He was a man who once he decided to do something, did it, no matter the obstacles.”
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Growing Up a Son of Sarge
When Mark Shriver was a little boy, his father ran for office, and Secret Service men became his new playmates. The son of the founder of the Peace Corps writes in this excerpt from his book, “A Good Man,” about political power from a unique perspective.
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Tex
Andy Hinds and his father team up to recall stories of Andy’s bootlegging, fist-fighting, cowboy grandfather, “Tex.”
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How I Became Obsessed with Sneakers
Carlos Foglia’s father passed away two months ago. He’s written a hilarious and touching portrait of his father, who taught him to be grateful for everything he was given.
—Photo credit: cogdogblog/Flickr
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