RUSH: I’m gonna remind people about the new book. That’s another thing I was not gonna lead with because I don’t want to make the program about me, except when these neophytes on TV are misquoting me and getting me wrong. We’re the number one book on Amazon, Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner. Folks, I don’t know how to tell you people how much gratitude we have for you. I just don’t know anymore. Twenty-seven years and I still get goose bumps when I see the evidence of all of you out there. I don’t know. I have such a profound sense of gratitude and appreciation.
A children’s book, targeted ages 10 to 13, is number one on Amazon after one mention yesterday. Everybody on the Rush Revere team is just blown away by it. So, yeah, I was gonna talk about it later. Snerdley bashed me here and forced me into talking about it now. (interruption) You didn’t know it was number one? You just wanted me to mention it again.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: So yesterday I announced pre-orders for the fourth Rush Revere Time-Travel Adventures with Exceptional Americans series, book four in the series is Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner. And after that one mention yesterday, it was the second hour yesterday, so 25 hours after one mention, this book shows up at number one on Amazon, a children’s book targeted to ages 10 to 13, but we have found that children even younger than that love and absorb these books.
We’ve even heard from adults who tell us that they’re learning things in these books that they didn’t learn when they were in school themselves. And all of it is overwhelmingly meaningful and heartwarming. These books have so far exceeded our expectations, and I don’t mean to undersell that, but children’s book series, you don’t know how that’s gonna go. The reason for it is heartfelt and simple. I love this country. I just love it. I believe that this country’s a miracle, and I’m fascinated by how it happened. I’m fascinated by how unique this country is.
The history of humanity in the world is one of bondage, slavery, poverty, tyranny. The phrase “American exceptionalism” to me actually refers to how exceptional a country we are in terms of the way people have lived on this planet. First country in the history of mankind that was founded under the premise that the individual human being is supreme, not a government, not a king, not a dictatorship, but the individual human being in his natural existence as created by God, yearning for freedom and liberty and seeking happiness, is the basis on which this country was founded.
The Constitution was written that limits the government, that limits the ability of leaders to impede this freedom and liberty and pursuit of happiness. It’s never happened before, and I think it’s a miracle that it did. I was taught some of it when I was in school. Not nearly all of it, but I was taught a generally positive story of the founding of this country. But that’s not been the case for the last couple of generations. It’s totally turned upside down, what young people are taught about this country. This country’s portrayed as illegitimate and unjust and biased and discriminatory, unfair, immoral. And that just won’t do.
People need to love this country and appreciate it and understand how special it is and understand the inherent goodness of this country because of the inherent goodness of human beings. It is the inherent goodness of human beings that our founders recognized would be the basis for the greatness of our country, and sustainability of it. Not the greatness of governments or the greatness of bureaucracies, but the greatness of the individual human being. Human beings have the capacity for compassion, for greatness, for caring, sensitivity, all of these things. And the fewer obstacles in their way, the better they and everybody will do. That’s the basis on which this country was founded.
It’s not taught nearly as much. So these books are an attempt to tell the truth, the glorious truth about the history of the United States, and particularly its early days and its founding. And it’s just exceeded our expectations. We’re now up to book four, Rush Revere and the Star-Spangled Banner. Rush Revere is me dressed up as Paul Revere. He’s a little oddball, but he’s a substitute history teacher. And his best friend is a horse that happened to be struck by lightning when he was a young colt, and that lightning bolt enabled him to talk and time travel anywhere in American history. So Rush Revere is able to take his substitute students, a few of them, time traveling back to anywhere he wants to take them in American history. And that’s what these books are.
This one we focus on a lot, the Star-Spangled Banner, Francis Scott Key, how the Star-Spangled Banner came to be the national anthem, what happened. The students are taken right back to Fort McHenry, where it all happened. And, again, I could tell you the whole book here, I don’t want to do that, I don’t want to give it away. But we’re all so excited about it, so proud of it. We also time travel back to Philadelphia for the actual writing of some of the nation’s founding documents. We combine the time travel with current times, real events in the lives of these students involving their parents and grandparents and their friends. And each one is a craft, essentially, each book is crafted, as opposed to written.
There are a lot of people that put these together in terms of researching the history to get it right, the illustrations, the fair-use photos that we can use. There are so many people that help us out here and it’s a great team effort. It’s a fun team to be on. So we’ve got the pre-orders that started yesterday. I think the book actually goes on sale on October 27th. But I got up today and I checked my e-mail and there’s a note from Kathryn with a screen grab from Amazon. (laughing) When I went to bed, it was at number seven. I got an e-mail last night — well, not when I went to bed. It was a little earlier than that, it was number seven, and we were thrilled with that. We were excited with that, in one day, with one little mention.
So the whole point here is take the occasion to describe once again what the books are about and why, and the story behind them. But to also thank all of you again for making this happen, ’cause I have never labored under any misconception about why I have been so fortunate with this radio program and the other things that happened because of it, and it’s all because of so many of you. I don’t know, I’ve run out of ways to say thanks other than just to say “thanks” and let you know that we’re all filled with gratitude and fully aware of the role you play in helping make these books a success.
I mean, the e-mails that we get, folks, thousands of people, kids and their parents and grandparents send us e-mails, pictures of the kids reading the books in bed, in their rooms, under the Christmas tree, at school. We try to post some of these at the RushRevere.com website. We have an entire group that deals with audience relations here, which is something we really, really have developed for the Revere side of things. So it makes it all the more fun. And I wanted to, in addition to mentioning the book again, it was just a short little, what was it, 20-minute mention yesterday? (laughing) No, no, short little mention yesterday and you all make it number one. I don’t know. I’m continually humbled and blown away about it at the same time.