Guest's family moved to the United States in 1891. Four years later he went to work for the Detroit Free Press as a police reporter and then as a writer of daily rhymes, which became so popular that they were eventually syndicated to newspapers throughout the country and made his name a household word. His first book, A Heap o' Livin' (1916), named for his famous lines “It takes a heap o' livin' in a house t' make it home,” became a best-seller and was followed by similar collections of his optimistic rhymes on such subjects as home, mother, and the virtue of hard work. Guest also appeared on radio and television.