Growing up in the 1910s and ‘20s in hardscrabble Scranton, young Howard developed a strong work ethic, a boxer’s punch, and a desire to prove himself to those who underestimated him. His father predicted that he would one day leave a mark on the world, but the Great Depression hit while he was in high school. Howard the Boy tells the remarkable story of his rise from coal-mining country to college and of the people and events that shaped the man he would become.