BOYS WILL BE MEN
A Son Comes of Age in His Own Words
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
January 26, 1982
Dear
Mom, Dad, and Sharyl,
I
have started to realize the value, as well as the values, of African business.
Togo may be more advanced in the labor movement than the Western world. Between
funerals, birthdays, Muslim, Christian, and state holidays, they have
accomplished a four-day workweek. The Africans have taken laissez-faire
philosophy to the extreme; they don’t interfere at all in the economy, least of
all by going to work or promoting their own business.
The
attitude of missed appointments, arbitrary closings of places, and slow service
used to peeve the very organized, business-minded me. I used to get bugged at
Mr. Owebo, who ran the “burette,” or local concession stand on campus. Many
times after a basketball game in this very hot climate, I really wanted a cold
drink. I’d make the mistake of expecting the stand to be open, being the middle
of the day.
So
many times it was closed or Mr. Owebo had just stepped out and closed up shop.
I cursed him endlessly each time and mentally grouped in some of his
culture-mates in my personal vituperation. I never vented this anger, however.
It seemed as though just when I’d expect it would be the last time on earth the
place would be closed, there it would be, locked up tight. I wasn’t the only
one frustrated. I would find many a student upset, turned away or anxiously
waiting for it to reopen.
Only
this past weekend have I forgiven Mr. Owebo his idiosyncrasies. On Saturday I
was laid up with a bad case of dysentery and a fever of 104 degrees. He heard
about this and right in the middle of a hot day, when his business was the
hottest, he decided to close up shop, come to me, wish me “du courage” and give
me two free cokes.
It
was about the dumbest, most economically unsound thing he could have done. Adam
Smith would have cringed. Yet it was the most human thing anyone could have
done. I had actually been dehydrating from a combination of diarrhea and fever,
and I had been dying for a drink. It is this humanity which screws up all of the
economists’ equations, lowers the GNP [gross national product] figure and puts
Africa under the label of a “backward” country. I wish some Americans I know
were a bit more backward.
Love,
Bruce
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About the Book
Any parent or friend who has said good-bye to a young man, or woman, going abroad for study or adventure will be entranced by Bruce Lynn's letters from Africa. You will experience his letters as a gift of shared thoughts, dreams and challenges. In letters to his parents, Bruce provides insight into the searching within himself that is a part of this stage in a young person's life.
Traveling to Togo, West Africa for the year between his sophomore and junior years at Harvard University, Bruce reveals his coming of age and new cultural awareness through a myriad of experiences that include playing center as the only white person in the local basketball league, teaching a class on the Declaration of Independence at the American International School, guiding travel writers to the land of the Tamberma, interviewing Elizabeth Dole when she visited Togo, and being helped when he was ill by Mr. Owebo, who ran the local concession stand.
The book is edited by Marjorie Lynn, who, when cleaning out a closet one rainy day, discovered Bruce's letters received twenty years earlier. She recognized that the letters would represent a journey of discovery for others traveling toward themselves.
About the Author
Marjorie Lynn is a graduate of Goddard College with a degree in
English. After leaving her job as a writer and editor at the MITRE Corporation,
she devoted herself for 22 years to serving families, youth, and children as
Executive Director of the YWCA of Newburyport, Massachusetts, a position from
which she recently retired. She has been active in community organizations,
including service on the board of Harbor Schools and Family Services. Marjorie
lives in Ipswich, Massachusetts, with her husband, the Reverend Edwin Lynn. In
addition to her son, Bruce, she has a daughter, Sharyl, and four grandchildren.
Bruce Lynn has worked in a variety of technology positions,
developing and marketing computer financial models, artificial intelligence
expert systems, multidimensional decision support systems, and Internet
platforms. He joined the Microsoft Corporation in the United Kingdom, where he
is currently Director of Network Service Providers. He lives in Marlow,
England, with his wife, Lori, his daughter, Isley, and his son, Chase.