My goal as webmaster for What Paul Harris Wrote is simple: To make the ideas of this visionary more accessible to the 1.2 million Rotarians around the world and to the countless people who might well become Rotarians. Paul Harris wrote This Rotarian Age almost 75 years ago, and yet his words and vision still resonate. However, in 75 years, spelling and punctuation rules change. Therefore, in this pdf version, I did a light edit to reflect modern language conventions. However, I studiously avoided stylistic changes or any changes that would shift the meaning.

Although a visionary, Paul Harris was a product of his time. Rotary started as an all male organization at a time when females were essentially excluded from business and the professions. I chose not to change the language that most would now regard as sexist. My own feeling is that Harris would have led the charge to admit women as a natural part of the evolution of Rotary. He made it abundantly clear that to remain vital, Rotary must constantly evolve and reach out to others.

In this book, Paul Harris gives you a glimpse into the person who conceived of Rotary and then made it a reality. He is proud of what Rotary had become by 1935, when he finished this book, but he takes little credit. Instead, you see that he understands that the strength of Rotary is its ability to attract and energize talented people who believe in its underlying values—people like you.

Mike Raulin
Rotary Club of Canfield, Ohio USA
Webmaster, What Paul Harris Wrote