Growing up without a male father figure in the house, my role models were the characters in (mostly sci-fi) novels, foremost among them those created by Heinlein. As the decades passed, I found areas where I strongly disagree with him (esp. politics), but I will always be grateful to him, for many of the values he wrote about resonate with me still, those of upholding one's honor, protecting the weak, and treating women like the princesses they are most of all.

On that last value, I've been very happily married 28 years - we're still newlyweds making everyone around us want to gag. Heinlein's marital values were different from mine, but I took to heart his advice on how to treat women, and it's always served me well. His writings are probably the main reason I've got such a happy marriage.