I’m in Southern California for the next nine days for Thanksgiving with the family and the annual Notre Dame/USC game, and as I usually do, I took a book to read on my travels. I don’t get time to do much book reading, and travel gives me a little more down time. For this trip, I chose Samuel Adams: A Life by Ira Stoll, the former managing editor of the late, lamented New York Sun.

On the flight, I managed to get through a quarter of the 300 pages, which is remarkable if you take into account that I hate flying and every bump distracts me. It’s difficult to get distracted by Ira’s excellent recounting of a patriot somewhat lost to time. Most people know Sam Adams as a beer — and a darned fine beer at that. But as one of Adams’ obituaries stated, to tell his story really means telling the entire story of the revolution.

Why did Adams get mostly forgotten? He was a zealot, for one thing, and zealots have gone out of fashion. In an age of cynics and hip irony, Adams’ passion for liberty and freedom would make many people uncomfortable. Adams based his zealotry on two other old-fashioned principles: religious faith and a belief in private property.

I’m thoroughly enjoying this biography and discovering Adams as a historical figure. I’m especially intrigued by Adams’ prolific writings under several pseudonyms as political activism. Adams would have been quite at home in the blogosphere, I believe.

I’d call this one a must-read for those interested in the underlying basis of our revolution and the philosophy of our founding fathers.