FEATURE
Millsaps alumnus and trustee Hal Malchow and his son, Alex, are authors of the book, The Sword of Darrow. It is an inspiring fictional story about a princess who can’t read and a prince who has never been more than 10 miles from his birthplace.
Political consultant shifts career toward writing and advocacy with teenage son Millsaps alumnus and his son share their ideas in a story. BY PATTI P. WADE
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illsaps College trustee, Hal Malchow, B.S., 1973, of Arlington, Va., found a brilliant way to blend work and family. He used his considerable knowledge of direct marketing to promote a fictional adventure story he penned with his son, Alex, now age 16. In the process, he navigated a career change and became a voice for individuals with learning disabilities. Recognized as a pioneer and authority in the employment of statistical modeling and data mining techniques in the political arena, Malchow was featured in an October 2010 issue of
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The New York Times on the subject of testing motivational messages in political mailings. His client list has included Senators Chris Dodd, Ted Kennedy, and Hillary Clinton, and both the International Direct Marketing Association and the American Association of Political Consultants have recognized his work. Even with an A-list clientele and national acknowledgment of his expertise, Malchow counts the creation of The Sword of Darrow with his son as “one of the great projects of my life.” The story began when Alex was age 4 as they shared reading aloud great novels as well as telling original stories. Malchow refers to the told stories as “me-you” stories, where Alex