By Rich Fisher
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/kwgs/local-kwgs-825001.mp3
Tulsa, Oklahoma – Today on StudioTulsa, we have a program (which originally aired in November 2008) devoted to the often-exciting life of Samuel Adams, the little-remembered Founding Father --- unless you're a beer drinker --- who was in fact, per Thomas Jefferson's words, "truly the Man of the Revolution." Our guest today is the journalist and author Ira Stoll; his biography of Adams (published by Simon and Schuster) is called "Samuel Adams: A Life." Why, then --- as our host Rich Fisher asks Stoll, early in their discussion --- has Adams been so neglected by history? Stoll's reply, in part, is that although Adams was fiercely revolutionary in both his temperament and politics, and quite famous in his day, his religious conservatism hasn't really agreed with the pursuits and inclinations of today's popular historians. Nevertheless, no understanding of our nation's origins would be complete with a working knowledge of the life of Samuel Adams. Indeed, as one critic, writing for Library Journal, has noted: "Stoll argues for Adams's key role [in America's early history]. He's not wrong. Massachusetts, the hothouse of the Revolution, was the site of the best-remembered moments of rebellion: the Boston Massacre, the Tea Party, Paul Revere's Ride, 'the shots heard round the world.' Adams had a hand in all, then helped declare independence from England, and managed the war that followed."