You may be familiar with the 1953 movie Mister Scoutmaster starring Clifton Webb, you may even know that the movie is loosely based on the book Be Prepared by author Rice E. Cochran; but it’s not likely you know Keith Monroe.
Keith wrote Be Prepared under the pen name Rice E. Cochran, and was also a frequent contributor to Scouting magazine and *Boys’ Life.*Monroe was the Scoutmaster of Troop 2 Santa Monica, California for 42 years.
It’s no surprise that the book is a great deal more authentic and compelling than the movie. Monroe writes humorously and touchingly about his work as a Scouter. Here’s an excerpt from Be Prepared about the dividends of being a Scoutmaster-
The biggest dividends… start when his first group of grown-up ex-Scouts begin coming back to see him, The simple fact that they want to see him has an inflationary effect on his self esteem, naturally. … Surprising numbers of them will mention long forgotten remarks he made which they have treasured ever since. Inasmuch as these are likely to be rather successful successful looking and obviously sincere young men the effect of constant visits by them will be to make the Scoutmaster feel that he is one hell of a fellow which, after all, is not a bad way for anyone to feel.
When first he begins hearing his alumni reminisce a Scoutmaster finds himself looking back on past woes in a pearly new light. They seem to have been worthwhile after all. The experiences these men most enjoy recalling are the times in camp when it rained from start to finish, or somebody forgot to bring the food, or the mosquitoes were so thick that no one slept all night. Suddenly the Scoutmaster realizes that no one quit the troop on account of these calamities; that his Scouts actually became stronger in time of trouble and enjoyed it in retrospect. Time has an alchemy all its own. It transmutes glum defeats into joyous victories with the passing of years.
This is a reassuring knowledge to a Scoutmaster who goes forth to battle Mother Nature and stubborn flesh at some Scout encampment every month. My own thirty years with the troop have been nerve racking and scar producing and sweaty: they have been sprinkled with rattlesnakes and angry mothers and flat tires and smelly latrines and sprained ankles and and cold stew and whining boys and bellowing fathers and a million troop meetings to plan and endless money to raise. I think I’ll do thirty more..
Troop 2’s web site includes a Keith Monroe memorial page.
Be Prepared is a great read, it’s out of print but copies are often available for sale on AmazonI never really cared for the movie Mister Scoutmaster all that much, but it is available for viewing at Amazon.