The Scoutmaster: Lessons in Service and Leadership from an American Hero

Paul Eason was a Scoutmaster for more than sixty years. More than 350 young men became Eagle Scouts under his leadership. The troop he led began camping every month in the summer of 1951. In July 2023, the troop will complete seventy-two years of camping without missing a single month.

The record is extraordinary, but it is far less important than Paul Eason's influence on the thousands of Boy Scouts he led on their journey from childhood to manhood. He was born to be a Scoutmaster. He was kind, humble, and encouraging. His patience and energy were inexhaustible. He loved adventure. His moral compass never wavered. He always did the right thing. He had a profound, positive influence on three generations of young men in his hometown.

The Scoutmaster is the story of a remarkable man and his remarkable life of leadership and service

The Scoutmaster is Brooks Eason's fifth book. His first, Travels with Bobby, is about hiking trips in the mountains of the West with his best friend. Fortunate Son, his memoir about his adoption as an infant and discovery of his birth mother's identity when he was nearly fifty, was nominated by the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters for best nonfiction work. Bedtime with Buster consists of conversations between Brooks and his dearly departed dog and includes more than thirty marvelous illustrations of Buster by Atlanta artist Bob Fugate. Redemption - The Two Lives of Harry Brooks is a novel based on the life of his grandfather, who was a fugitive and felon in the first half of his life and a gifted Methodist preacher in the second. The Scoutmaster is the story of the wonderful life of his father, who served as a Boy Scout leader for more than sixty years and was an extraordinary influence on three generations of young men in his hometown. Brooks has three children and five grandchildren and lives in Madison, Mississippi, with his wife Carrie, three rescue dogs, and an orange tabby cat named the Count. In their spare time, Brooks and Carrie host house concerts, walk the dogs, and dance in the kitchen.