In "The Council of Dads: A Story of Family, Friendship & Learning How to Live", Feiler describes how, after learning he had a seven-inch osteosarcoma in his left femur, he asked six men from all passages of his life to be present through the passages of his young daughters’ lives. "I believe my daughters will have plenty of opportunities in their lives," he wrote these men. "They’ll have loving families. They’ll have each other. But they may not have me. They may not have their dad. Will you help be their dad?"