This question is important to any healthy society. Very important. And if there’s a boy you love in your life—a son, a grandson, a nephew, a student, or a member of your church—it matters in a deeply personal way. (Believe me, as the mother of five sons, I know!) You want him to grow into a strong, kind, compassionate, responsible man…yet you can’t help but worry that too few voices are teaching him how.
 
The reality is that the wisdom that once helped boys find their way—the kind of wisdom that was handed down from man to boy during a game of catch or a day of fishing—has become lost amid all the noise of popular culture, lost amid the rush of lives too busy for family dinners. In its place are lessons learned from dubious “role models” in music videos and movies—lessons like “Look out for #1”…“Pursue money at all costs”…“Use and objectify women.”
 
A Better Man is my effort to share the kinds of stories boys want and need to hear: stories about right and wrong and courage and integrity and service. Filled with first-person narratives from some of America’s most respected and engaging men—from sports figures to civil rights activists to political leaders—the book is meant to help boys ages 12 to 19 (and beyond) reclaim the goodness and heroism they’re wired for.
 
Please share A Better Man with a boy you love, or with his parents or guardians. Even if he already has a strong male role model in his life—even if it’s you—the messages in this book simply cannot be reinforced too strongly. Each essay and interview sheds a little more light on the path that leads from boyhood to manhood, showing boys another way. A better way.

Kelly H. Johnson, Editor

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