Boys to Men

Growing up fatherless, though not without mentors, Greg Alan Williams struggled for many years to learn the hard lessons of manhood, which he now passes on in Boys to Men. Convinced that alcohol and drugs and the affection of women made him a man, Williams lived self-destructively, despite a promising career as an actor. Caught up in the glamour of Hollywood, Williams was an absent father until he realized he was repeating the mistakes of the past.

In 1992, Williams came into his own when Los Angeles rioted over the acquittal of four policemen who had beaten a man named Rodney King. During the riots, Williams intervened and rescued a Japanese-American man from the clutches of an angry mob. That action, praised as heroic by the media and recorded in his first book, A Gathering of Heroes, was evidence that Williams had finally learned how to be a man.

In the past four years, Williams has traveled the country speaking to youth and community groups about responsibility and adulthood, "showing up for life" in the face of fear and peer pressure, and resisting violence in the struggle for justice. In Boys to Men, he delivers what amounts to a roadmap to adulthood, following Good Orderly Direction (G.O.D.) and learning to accept the lessons of failure as much as the rewards of success.

Honest and anecdotal, Williams has a message that cuts across race and class and prepares the men of tomorrow, as well as their parents, for the journey to come.

atherless, though not without mentors, Greg Alan Williams struggled for many years to learn the hard lessons of manhood, which he now passes on in Boys to Men. Convinced that alcohol and drugs and the affection of women made him a man, Williams lived self-destructively, despite a promising career as an actor. Caught up in the glamour of Hollywood, Williams was an absent father until he realized he was repeating the mistakes of the past.

In 1992, Williams came into his own when Los Angeles rioted over the acquittal of four policemen who had beaten a man named Rodney King. During the riots, Williams intervened and rescued a Japanese-American man from the clutches of an angry mob. That action, praised as heroic by the media and recorded in his first book, A Gathering of Heroes, was evidence that Williams had finally learned how to be a man.

In the past four years, Williams has traveled the country speaking to youth and community groups about responsibil