A Book for children about the Founder of Rotary

As a boy, Paul Harris was a rapscallion.

Rapscallion. That's what they called boys who got into trouble in the 1800's when Paul Harris was growing up. Nobody in town but his grandfather and his grandmother ever thought Paul would amount to anything when he grew up.

As a young man, Paul Harris was a drifter.

For five years after he finished law school he wandered from one job to another — cowboy, actor, fruit picker — Paul Harris tried them all. He wandered from state to state and country to country. It looked like the folks who thought he was a no-account had been right.

But then he settled down

After bumming around the U.S. and Europe, Paul finally moved to Chicago and buckled down to make himself a success as a lawyer. There, in 1905, with three friends, he founded of the premier service organization, Rotary International, which boasts over one million members in over one hundred countries.

Paul Harris’ story is inspiring, not only for the great achievements of the organization he founded, but also for the fact that he was not a perfect person.

He serves as a model for all children who are not — well — perfect.