As Clark tells it, he subsequently received a phone call from editors Mark Hansen and Jack Canfield who said they were assembling a collection of stories they were going to call "Chicken Soup for the Soul." What they wanted to know was how he marketed his one-minute messages. "Give it away," he told them. It took 18 months to sell the first million. The series of books has now sold about 90 million. Clark's stories appeared in the first 12 volumes.

Clark's stories are a mixture of his own and others' experiences, or purely fictional, designed to illustrate a principle. "I speak to so many groups, and the second we bring up religion we alienate a certain number of people," he explains. "I talk about true principles. People can call it religion if they want. That's how I write my stories. I look for a true principle and then look for a story that illustrates that — honesty, integrity, etc. I am deeply religious, but I create my own parables."

If your idea of the motivational speaker is the caricature produced by the late Chris Farley — living in a trailer down by the river, eating government cheese — you've got it all wrong. Clark lives with Kelly and their four children in a large home in Salt Lake City with marble floors, enough sports memorabilia to open a Hall of Fame, seven guitars, a white grand piano (signed by Hamlisch) and a recording studio downstairs.

The walls of his basement are covered by hundreds of framed autographed photos of Clark schmoozing with celebrities. For a photo to qualify for the "Wall of Fame," as he calls it, Clark has to have spent time with them. Good luck trying to name someone famous who isn't pictured there.

"We've traveled all over the world," says Kelly, "and it doesn't matter where we are, every time someone will walk up and say, 'Hey, Dan!'"

The Clarks have four children. Danny, 20, is serving a mission for his church in Panama. Nikola, 17, is the reigning Miss Teen Utah International. McCall, 14, is the head cheerleader at her junior high and has signed a record deal as a singer. (She has recorded three CDs and has performed with or opened for Aaron Carter, Jessica Simpson, Gladys Knight, Michael Bolton and Donny Osmond and sings the national anthem occasionally at Jazz games when requested.) Alexandria, 13, is a former national-class Level 6 gymnast who has danced in the "Nutcracker" with Ballet West at the Capitol Theatre.

"Obviously, my message works," says Clark, "because I have four of the most amazing kids who ever lived. They love life, they understand work ethic and integrity and making people around them better."

Says Kelly, "The kids take their dad to school for show and tell. They think he's pretty great."