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1-Page Summary of Thirst

Overview

Scott Harrison’s charity: water has been around for a while, so you may have heard about it or even donated to help bring clean water to those in need. President Barack Obama once praised Scott Harrison’s work as “the kind of promoting we need more of.”

Harrison, who is a successful entrepreneur and philanthropist, started his career in New York City. However, he soon realized that there are greater opportunities to do good work elsewhere. He has now made it his life’s mission to help people in need all over the world by sharing what he learned from his journey.

This passage contains three key points. The first one is that Harrison’s faith was restored after reading a book. The second point is about the biggest donor campaign in history, which raised $2 billion for his cause. Finally, there was a tragic suicide of someone who supported his cause; this tragedy reaffirmed Harrison’s commitment to it.

Big Idea #1: Scott Harrison had an unusual childhood, with a mother prone to sickness.

Scott Harrison was born in New Jersey in 1975. He’s had a restless drive to get things done since he was a kid, and it may have saved his life when the house he grew up in had a carbon monoxide leak that nearly killed his mom. Since then, Scott has always been energetic. This energy helped him overcome obstacles as well, such as when it took over a year before doctors identified the cause of his mother’s recurring symptoms—a carbon monoxide leak from their home’s heating system.

The carbon monoxide leak made the Harrison family move, but no matter where they went, his mom would be sick from strong scents. Strong smells like onions and hairspray were also a problem. Sometimes they had to drive in the middle of the night just to find a place that smelled OK for her to breathe. One time, she was so bothered by car exhaust from a nearby highway that they ended up sleeping on hay in a barn.

As a child, Scott loved to go on adventures and camping trips with his mother. However, as he got older, her illnesses became more of a burden for him. He also wanted a normal adolescence without the stress of taking care of her all the time. His mother was sensitive to electromagnetic radiation in the air so there were no televisions or radios in their house and she was also allergic to most foods.

Scott was born in the Harrisons’ family. They were religious and enrolled Scott into a small Christian school with five classrooms that held around nine students each. Scott hated it so much, he told his parents that he wanted to go to public school instead.

Scott was 16 when he suddenly found himself the new kid in a bigger high school. His only skill that helped him with making friends was playing piano.

Big Idea #2: With an early interest in music, Scott eventually entered the New York City nightlife scene.

Scott started playing the piano when he was six. He joined a band in high school and played keyboards for them.

In the early 1990s, Sunday River was a Pearl Jam-like band with some Counting Crows influences. They were good enough to get gigs and record demos. Scott became very involved in promoting them and calling clubs to book performances. He skipped many classes his senior year, barely graduating.

Scott’s parents wanted him to go to college. They wanted Scott to go to a Christian school like Wheaton College, but he didn’t want that and pushed back against it. He felt that since his band was on the verge of becoming famous, what point would there be in going to college?

Scott moved to New York City after graduating from college and got a job selling musical instruments. He even helped Stevie Wonder buy $50,000 worth of equipment. Scott eventually found work at Club USA in Times Square, where he felt right at home among bright lights, loud music and crowded dance floors.