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23 April 2009

Book Review: “Spirit of Adventure” Authored by Alvin Townley

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Over the last few weeks I’ve been reading and thinking about Alvin Townley’s “The Spirit of Adventure” which is a follow-up to his first book “Legacy of Honor”. Both are about Eagle Scouts. I have to confess I didn’t read the first one and Amazon.com gives only endorsement quotes about it, but the user reviews make me think that it is similar to this one: a series of stories about Eagle Scouts and the lessons we can learn from them.

First of all, I need to state that I believe this is a book worth buying. I have to say that, not because the publisher gave me a free advance copy to peruse, but because some of the statements I’ll subsequently make may sound other than supportive. The first of which is this: it is very easy and sometimes necessary to put this book down. Although I had a number of other projects going on while I was reading the book the real reason it took me two weeks to read was because I kept having to put it down. I’d get through a chapter or part of one and the story that Mr. Townley related made me think about my life, or my son’s Scouting career, or the way my Boy Scout troop is run.

The book’s author seeks to discover how the 20 and 30-something Eagle Scouts of his generation differ from the Norman Rockwell stereotype from the 1950’s and 60’s. Most people have an idea of that straight-arrow, humble fellow and how one could depend on a guy like that to command a brigade, build his church, or head off to Washington to combat corruption. What Mr. Townley attempted to discover was what America expect from the Eagle Scouts of today. Have they become isolated from the great deeds we’ve come to expect from the top tier of the Boy Scouts of America?

In a word, no. Following Eagle Scouts from the tops of mountains, down their cliffs, to other continents and both above and below the ocean’s waves, Mr. Townley relates dozens of stories about the different adventures undertaken by America’s Eagles. He also gives a few interesting statistics about how Eagles tend to be a significant portion of the leaders in various endeavors. Don’t expect the book’s trip to keep you in nice, clean neighborhoods. Our Eagles also come from housing projects and travel to destitute third-world communities.

One of the harder parts I had during the read was the slick transition that would occur from one story to another or how the Eagle interviewed would begin to preach about the affect of Boy Scouts of America on his life. Of course, that’s the point of the book, but I guess I’m more cynical or used to people not being able to articulate their thoughts as smoothly as most of the Eagles do. Mr. Townley also waxes poetic at times which is usually when I started reflecting on my life and ended up putting the book down for a while.

This isn’t simply a series of stories about Eagle Scouts and their adventures. Frequently, you’ll hear about how those adventures affect the world. The subtitle of the book is “Eagle Scouts and the Making of America’s Future”, but it could easily have been about the making of the earth’s future. That probably would have sounded a bit grandiose, though.

Here are a few examples: Eagle Scout Eric Ramirez in the Navy’s SEAL program where days of no sleep and punishing physical training will enable him to conduct operations all over the world like the recent rescue of the crew of the “Maersk Alabama”, Eagle Scouts Ian and Vance Moss who returned to Afghanistan to treat civilians affected by combat and disease, and Eagle Scout Eric Treml advising the World Wildlife Fund on the interdependencies of coral reefs from his position at the University of Queensland, Australia. Here at home Eagle Scout Hannibol Sullivan administers Boy Scouts in Los Angeles’ urban community to try to keep kids out of trouble, Eagle Scout Tom Pigott plans to revitalize a Seattle neighborhood with a gigantic business venture, and Eagle Scout Morgan House trains for the next Olympics.

If you’re ready to take those first few steps on the Appalachian Trail in the opening of Alvin Townley’s “Spirit of Adventure” you can begin a journey of many thousands of miles and learn about the new generation of leaders from the ranks of the Eagle Scouts of the Boy Scouts of America. Bon voyage.
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That was the review I told the publisher I’d be posting. I waited a week and didn’t hear anything back so I guess I didn’t get any of the facts wrong.

The copy I got was a softback version without pictures although those were included printed on paper separately. There were a few spelling and grammatical errors, but that was because it was not the final version. The front cover prominently said that it was not the final version. Coincidentally, I’ve just received the final a hardback copy, but I prefer softback and I think it’s cooler to have an advance copy than the same one that everyone else will get. So, should I do one of those Camping Blogger or ScoutingNews style give-aways? My Life Scout son and I swap books back and forth all the time so we don’t need two and I have no idea how I’d decide which leader or Boy Scout to give it to. Something to think about.

The marketing of this book is astounding. Mr. Townley got an endorsement from the BSA itself! Here’s an excerpt that went out from national to all the Scout Executives.

We have read Spirit of Adventure and believe it will truly reintroduce Scouting to America while offering real benefits to local councils. We encourage you to pre-order the book before May 12 via the attached discount form and share it with your key leaders and donors. You can also resell the book for profit at your council office, events, and summer camps.

Nationally, we are supporting this book’s message. You’ll be seeing Alvin at the National Annual Meeting, in the Eagletter and Scouting magazine, and in the national media, among other places. We will soon offer tools and strategies so councils can reap benefits from this new resource and Alvin’s unique abilities.

I’ve already seen this promoted in one of the magazines, either Scouting or Boys’ Life (can’t find my copies right now). So, this is being incorporated in the new PR push for Boy Scouts of America.

Hm. That’s weird. I thought I’d give you links to some other reviews, but I don’t see any. Well, if you go to Amazon.com to look for it you can see an editorial review there, but that’s kind of like asking your mom if she loves you. I hope I’m not breaking some reviewers code of ethics by posting my review, but I sent it to the publisher last week so I’d hope they would send me word if that was the case. Well, I guess we’ll find out in a bit.

If I think of anything else to add I’ll stick it in another post. This one is ridiculously long already.

Possibly Related Posts:

• Alvin Townley’s “Spirit of Adventure” Press Release
• 2nd “Spirit of Adventure” Book Review
• Win “Spirit of Adventure” Via ScoutingNews
• Catching up with ScoutingNews
• Minute of Time, Lifetime of Legacy

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