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Friend of the blog and podcast Mike Malone has announced the release of his new excellent, authoritative Eagle Scout history: Four Percent – The Story of Uncommon Youth in a Century of American Life; . (Listen to my interview with Mike on podcast 137.)
Mike is a well known writer, twice nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting. His articles and editorials have appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and Fortune, he was a columnist for The New York Times and he’s published nearly twenty award-winning technology books
He was kind enough to send me an advance copy of Four Percent (that will be available in August as an E-Book) and it’s the book of the Eagle Scout award because Mike is not only a skilled author; he’s an Eagle Scout;
You don’t so much earn the Eagle rank as you become an Eagle—a fact only the Eagles in the audience, and the Scout’s parents, fully appreciate. And in becoming an Eagle, you are changed forever.
To merely list the extraordinary achievements of a century of Eagle Scouts is to at least partially confuse cause and effect. It only proves the obvious fact that young people of achievement gravitate toward the opportunity for achievement.
What hasn’t yet been explained is why this particular award has come to assume a place so honored in American life that it alone, of all childhood achievements, follows its recipients throughout their lives; why it remains important as a résumé highlight decades after the honoree has aged out of the program; why newspapers still devote precious editorial space to coverage of Eagle service projects and Courts of Honor; and why at a man’s funeral, three score or more years after he earned the award, his eulogy will likely include the fact that he was an Eagle Scout.
Mike is an experienced Scouter with an impressive resume of leadership. Four Percent is much more than a simple history of the award in this centennial year of the Eagle Scout – it is a significant contribution to what it means to be an Eagle Scout. It is a “must read”.
Four Percent
available in hardcover at Amazon
Also available in a Kindle Edition
You don’t have to have a Kindle to read the book; Amazon offers free reading apps for just about any computer, smartphone or tablet.
Loved the WSJ article and so glad to see your 9/8/12 note above that a print copy of this will be forthcoming. I think there will be a big demand for this book, think of all the Eagle Scouts, potential Eagle scouts, entire Boy Scout Troops, family members of scouts, friends of scouts … so many of them would love to read this inspiring book and keep a copy of this book on their book shelf. I would buy at least 2 in a heartbeat – one for each of my two current Boy Scout sons, and probably one for me to keep for myself. Thank you.
As an Eagle Scout I would love to get a hard copy. That’s if it ever goes to print.
I saw the TV interview and was hoping to buy a hardcopy. My son-in-law and grandson are both eagle scouts. It would make a great gift. Please contact me if the book comes out in a hardcopy.
I do hope this comes out in paperback. My husband is 69 and is an Eagle scout, as were his 2 brothers and father. This would be a wonderful gift.
I was disappointed that this was only available as an e-book. I saw Mr. Malone interviewed today on TV and decided to order a copy for each of my boys – both of whom are Eagle Scouts. Perhaps a hardcopy will be available in the future as I thought this would be a great keepsake for my twenty-something sons.
Clarke —
Thanks for the “heads up” on the Kindle edition. Just purchased and downloaded a copy to my phone and read the intro … great stuff already!
Can you advise whether a hard copy of this book will be available instead of an ebook? If so when?
Stacy – I really don’t know if there will be a printed version or not – I hope so!
I just went and read some of Mr. Malone’s scout-related columns. Great stuff. Can’t wait for this book to be released!