The Courage To Be Courageous: A memoir of struggle, success, and truth

"Affectingly honest... A provocative memoir, refreshingly candid and thoughtful."

-Kirkus Reviews



By age 7 "Danny" Bolen knew he was different.



This was a perilous reality in the post-war years of 1950s America. Although a time of widespread economic prosperity and great technological advances, it was also an era of silent oppression, racial segregation, and real danger for anyone who fell outside of society's legally allowed norms.



Dan married a girl in white go-go boots, dropped out of college to become a Jehovah's Witness minister, and discovered he had a gift for employment recruiting that would make him a millionaire before turning 30 (something his Grandma Vera accurately predicted).



Lovingly told, with stark transparency and dry wit and humor, The Courage To Be Courageous is an important book about confronting our struggles, finding our success, and most importantly, stepping into our truth and embracing who we are each meant to be.



DAN BOLEN was born in 1947, in Spokane, Washington, and grew up in Boise, Idaho, and in several places in Alaska. After marrying a girl in white go-go boots and dropping out of college to become a Jehovah's Witness minister, he discovered he had a gift for employment recruiting, a passion that would propel him to great professional and financial success. From 1967 until 2019 he helmed the nationally recognized executive search firms Management Recruiters of Boise and Dan Bolen and Associates. This is his first book.



LANDON J. NAPOLEON is the award-winning and critically acclaimed author of fiction and nonfiction books that have been translated into multiple foreign editions. He is a previous Barnes & Noble "Discover Great New Writers" finalist and a Kirkus Reviews "Best of 2021" recipient. His debut novel ZigZag was adapted into a film, and his nonfiction biography Burning Shield: The Jason Schechterle Story was an "Arizona Republic Recommends" selection. He has a bachelor's degree in journalism from Arizona State University and a master's degree in creative writing from University of Glasgow in Scotland. He lives in Arizona.