November 6, 2009
Peter Applebome's book Scout's Honor is a wonderful memoir of his years as the parent of a Boy Scout. Actively involved with his son's scouting activities, Applebome is in turns funny, reflective, descriptive, and soul-searching as he struggles with everything from the first canoe trip (mastering the J stroke) to procuring the right socks (woolen) to camping in leaky tents (rain is an inevitable part of scouting) to acting as scoutmaster at summer camp (tequila sneaked onto the premises by needy dads) to the year 2000 Supreme Court decision upholding the ban on gays in scouts by the Boy Scout Association (no joke here: it saddens me). Applebome joined in with the Scouts to please his then sixth-grade son, and ended up pleasing himself as well. He thoroughly appreciates the real time spent with his child without distractions of work or home; he reconnects to his own childhood mixture of freedom and activity; and he finds within himself not only skills of camping (not too many of those, actually) but the ability to slow down and appreciate the moments of life, as time passes inexorably by.
Scout's Honor is a must-read for anyone involved in Scouts in any way, even as just an observer of their annual float in the Memorial Day Parade, and it is a must-must read for anyone who has a son contemplating Scouts or currently involved in Scouts. (To say nothing of the legions of ex-Scouts: just mentioning this book set my husband off on a long monologue of reveries from his own scouting days.) Not only does Applebome offer his hilarious and heart-warming memories of Scouting, but he wins the merit badge for historical delving. He's done his research on Boy Scouts, turning up fascinating tidbits and solid facts about the founding of the Scouts in England at the beginning of the 20th century by Lord Robert Baden-Powell (where it was viewed as almost revolutionary for how it brought together diverse classes of boys) and its subsequent migration across the sea. The Boy Scouts image changed shape under the diverse (and sometimes conflicting) influences of American leaders Ernest Thompson and Daniel Carter Beard, and then morphed again in the 1950s in response to the Cold War and fears of godlessness. It has been changing with the times ever since, nevertheless the basic tenets of loyalty, courtesy, cooperation, and sympathy first laid out by Baden-Powell in 1907 still remain the foundation of Scout troops everywhere. As Applebome demonstrates through his own personal history with the Boy Scouts, those tenets plus a healthy dose of the outdoors (and a complete disengagement with technological fixes for the duration of the outdoor experience) are still the best that scouting offers, and that best is very, very good.
Scouting began as an inclusive and enlightening opportunity for pre-teen boys to begin a journey towards both self-reliance and group cooperation; through the measures proposed by Applebome in that final chapter of Scout's Honor, the Boy Scouts of America can bring new life to the Scouting program, and new boys into the adventure, wonder, and community of Scouts.
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