Promoting Fatherhood

Most bumper stickers are meant to trumpet a favorite cause - freedom in Tibet, the election of so-and-so - or to toss a humorous comment a fellow driver's way.

But one seen increasingly around town is of a different ilk: a quiet, simple statement printed boldly in black and red that no doubt has puzzled, and perhaps inspired, a reader or two.

"Good Fathers Are Good Men," it says.

The stickers have been given away free at Springs stores - including the Maidstone Market, Barnes Store, and the Springs General Store - for about a year. There will probably be a few more seen on the roads after Father's Day this weekend, as children visiting those places and the Corner Store and the Upper Crust Bakery in East Hampton have been encouraged to take one home as a gift for Dad. They will also be distributed at Maidstone Park on Saturday from noon to 3 p.m.

The bumper stickers were created by Art Klein of Springs, a writer who until now has remained behind the scenes. He is the author of "Dad and Son," a memoir, he said, about "being male," and his experiences fighting a debilitating muscular disease and at the same time raising his son.

"I literally woke up one morning thinking about the joys of the role of raising children," said Mr. Klein, who has a girl as well as a boy. Trying to sum up his book very simply, he coined the words "Good Fathers Are Good Men."

A friend designed a layout, another friend in Chicago agreed to print them, and the stickers went into production the very next day.

Mr. Klein estimated there are "probably 1,000" around East Hampton.

Notices posted on the Internet have yielded about 10,000 requests for more, which Mr. Klein has mailed out at his own expense. His goal is to have one million out in the world. "I don't know if it's reachable," he said.

Whether he meets that goal or not, the messages are refreshingly thoughtful for some, and for him, a "really fun and gratifying thing."