Look up "wholesome" in the dictionary, and you might just find a picture of Pat Boone. It's an image the living legend is quite proud of.

"A lot of people look at the things I stand for—squeaky-clean, milk, and an old-fashioned image of America—which is fine by me," Boone said in an interview with Today's Christian. "I hope that when people think of me, they think of a guy who was raised on a certain set of values, a belief in God, and the determination to do what I believe is God's plan in my life."

His life is the focus of a recent book, Pat Boone's America: A Pop Culture Journey Through the Last Five Decades.

Born in Tennessee in 1934, Boone is the original American idol, a television amateur-hour contest winner from the 1950s who has sold more than 45 million records, charted thirty-eight Top 40 hits, and ranked as the tenth biggest recording artist in rock music history. He also has three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame (for music, television, and movies). Meanwhile, Pat and wife, Shirley, married for more than 50 years, have raised four daughters.

"Through it all, I held solid to certain beliefs in what God would have me do," he said, "and the result is what I believe is a life that has held far more opportunities than I could have ever expected to have on my own."

	"Through it all, I held solid to certain beliefs in what God would have me do." —Pat Boone

Early in his career as a contract actor, Boone was directed to make a film opposite sex symbol Marilyn Monroe. But since the movie dealt with the theme of infidelity, Boone turned down the part, and even faced threats of firing from the studio bosses.

"When I told them that I would not make that movie because of its theme, they told me that they could fire me if I refused," Boone said. "I would love to have made a film with Marilyn Monroe, but I would not make a film that was contrary to my beliefs."

Instead, Boone eventually made the 1962 film State Fair, which became a hit.

"This is something that has happened to me throughout my career, which has only helped to make my belief stronger that God really is in control," he said. "The trouble is that things in America have gotten off course, and the sense of decency and the strength of the family that our country was built on is deteriorating to the point that a lot of people don't even recognize it anymore.

"I think that that's why people look at me the way they do—that I'm old-fashioned and square—and maybe that is the case in Hollywood, but not in countless big and little hometowns across America where people raise their families and go to work every day. Those values are what keep families together."

Boone should know, not only as the father of four daughters, but as the patriarch of an extended family that has seen triumph and tragedy.

The faith of the Boone family was put to one of its most serious tests beginning in 2001 when Boone's 24-year-old grandson, Ryan, suffered a freak fall through the skylight of his condominium. Plunging three stories to the floor below, he suffered multiple injuries and lapsed into a coma. Boone asked people to pray for his grandson and even went on the Larry King Live show to discuss the event.

"The doctors told us that Ryan would not live, but we were confident that not only would he live, but that he would awaken from his coma and recover," Boone said. "The doctors tried to tell us that it was useless, but we told them that they should tend to the medical part, while we tended to the spiritual part."

Ryan awakened from his coma after 18 months, and continues to make progress. Eventually, the entire Boone family, including Ryan, appeared again on Larry King Live to talk about the recovery and the role that prayer and God played in that recovery.

"Ryan's survival and progress since his accident shows me that God really does work in our lives," Boone said. "Ryan asked me not long ago what I thought God meant to accomplish by his injury. I told him that I didn't know, but I believe that with it he got an opportunity to show that God does work miracles, many of them being far beyond our comprehension. At least until I have the opportunity to ask God himself, that's good enough for me."

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