Once upon a time, there was a kid who discovered he had a flair for the stage. And that kid gave a performance (in his best Axl Rose mode) that would change the summer, and maybe even the lives, of a bunch of Boy Scouts.
That kid was not Wolfe Maykut. But Wolfe was profoundly affected by the events in this story. It began for him when his parents, hoping to link him up with some of the good kids, enrolled him in Scout Troop 120.
“I’m convinced to this day that it was a dumping ground for unwanted children,” Maykut says.
The kids at summer scout camp quickly sorted themselves into bullies and victims. Among the former were the ones who were nominally in charge — the teenage assistant scoutmasters who lorded their petty power over the younger kids.
Wolfe was an introverted, chubby kid, prone to dodging his more assertive peers. But one day, to his surprise, a bully became the hero of his story. Wolfe shared the tale at Sound Effect’s live storytelling event in June — click “listen” above to hear it.
