David McCullough

David Gaub McCullough
David McCullough speaking at Emory University, on April 25, 2007
Born	July 7, 1933 (1933-07-07) (age 75) Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Occupation	Historian, Author
Nationality	American Scotch-Irish descent[1]
Writing period	1968 - current
Genres	History
Spouse(s)	Rosalee Ingram Barnes McCullough (1954 - present)
Children	Five
Influences Thornton Wilder, Barbara Tuchman, Bruce Catton, Robert Louis Stevenson, N.C. Wyeth
Official website

David Gaub McCullough (mə-kŭl'ə) (born July 7, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)^[2] is an American author, narrator, and lecturer.^[3] He is a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, National Book Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award.^[3][4]

Born and raised in Pittsburgh, McCullough attended Yale University, earning a degree in English literature. His first book, The Johnstown Flood, was published in 1968; he has written seven more since on topics such as Harry S. Truman, John Adams, and the Brooklyn Bridge. McCullough has also narrated multiple documentaries, as well as the 2003 film Seabiscuit; he also hosted American Experience for twelve years. Two of McCullough's books, Truman and John Adams, have been adapted into TV mini-series by HBO. McCullough's next work, about Americans in Paris, is due out in 2010.^[5]

Biography

Youth and education

Born to Christian Hax and Ruth McCullough,^[6] McCullough was educated at Linden Avenue Grade School and Shady Side Academy, in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[7] One of four sons, McCullough had a "marvelous" childhood; he had a wide range of interests, including sports and drawing cartoons.^[8] McCullough was introduced to books at an early age, by his parents and his grandmother, who read to him often.^[1] His parents talked openly about history, a topic which he feels should be discussed more often.^[1] McCullough "loved school, every day";^[8] he contemplated many career choices ranging from architect, actor, painter, writer, lawyer, and even attending medical school.^[8]

In 1951, McCullough began attending classes at Yale University.^[9] He believed that it was a "privilege" to study English at Yale due to the staff, which included John O'Hara, John Hersey, Robert Penn Warren, and Brendan Gill.^[10] He occasionally ate lunch with Pulitzer Prize winning^[11] novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder.^[10] While at Yale, he became a member of Skull and Bones.^[12] He served apprenticeships at Time, Life, the United States Information Agency, and American Heritage.^[10] He attributes finding enjoyment in research while he was at these jobs, stating, "Once I discovered the endless fascination of doing the research and of doing the writing, I knew I had found what I wanted to do in my life."^[10] While attending Yale, McCullough studied arts and achieved his bachelor's degree in English, with the intention of becoming a fiction writer or playwright.^[1] He graduated with honors in English literature in 1955.^[13][14]

Writing career

Early career

After graduation, McCullough moved to New York City, where the recently formed Sports Illustrated hired him as a trainee.^[8] He was later hired by the United States Information Agency, in Washington, D.C. as an editor and writer.^[2] After working for twelve years, including a position at American Heritage, with a consistent concentration on editing and writing, McCullough "felt that [he] had reached the point where [he] could attempt something on my own."^[8] McCullough "had no anticipation that [he] was going to write history, but [he] stumbled upon a story that [he] thought was powerful, exciting, and very worth telling."^[8] While working at American Heritage, McCullough wrote in his spare time for three years.^[8][15] The Johnstown Flood, a chronicle of one of the worst flood disasters in United States history, was released in 1968;^[8] to high praise by critics.^[16] John Leonard, of The New York Times, said of McCullough, "We have no better social historian."^[16] Despite rough financial times,^[9] McCullough, with encouragement from his wife, Rosalee, made the decision to become a full-time writer.^[17]

Gaining recognition

After the success of The Johnstown Flood, two new publishers offered him contracts, one to write about the Great Chicago Fire, another about the San Francisco earthquake.^[18] However, Simon & Schuster, publisher of The Johnstown Flood, also offered McCullough a contract to write a second book.^[9] Trying not to become "Bad News McCullough",^[18] he decided to write about a subject showing "people were not always foolish and inept or irresponsible."^[18] Remembering the words of his Yale teacher, "[Thornton] Wilder said he got the idea for a book or a play when he wanted to learn about something. Then, he'd check to see if anybody had already done it, and if they hadn't, he'd do it."^[9] McCullough decided to write a history of the Brooklyn Bridge, which he had walked across many times.^[9]

"To me history ought to be a source of pleasure. It isn't just part of our civic responsibility. To me it's an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is."

— David McCullough ^[10]

He also proposed, from a suggestion by his editor,^[1] a work about the Panama Canal; both were accepted by the publisher.^[9] Published in 1972, critics hailed The Great Bridge as "the definitive book on the event."^[19] Five years later, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal was released, gaining McCullough widespread attention for the first time.^[9] The book won the National Book Award for history,^[20] Samuel Eliot Morison Award,^[21] the Francis Parkman Prize,^[22], and the Cornelius Ryan Award.^[23] Later in 1977, McCullough travelled to the White House to advise Jimmy Carter and the United States Senate on the Torrijos-Carter Treaties, which would give Panama control of the Canal.^[21] Carter later said that the treaties which were agreed upon to hand over ownership of the Canal to Panama would not have passed, had it not been for the book.^[21]

"The story of people"

McCullough speaking in 2008

McCullough's fourth work was his first biography, reinforcing his belief that "history is the story of people".^[24] Released in 1981, Mornings on Horseback tells the story of seventeen years in the life of the 26^th President of the United States, Theodore Roosevelt.^[25] The work, ranging from 1869 to 1886, beginning when Roosevelt was ten years of age, tells of a "life intensely lived."^[25] The book won McCullough's first Los Angeles Times Prize for Biography and New York Public Library Literary Lion Award, and his second National Book Award.^[26] Next, a collection of essays which, "unfold seamlessly"^[27] entitled Brave Companions, was released from McCullough. The essays, which were written over a twenty-year period,^[28] include works about Louis Agassiz, Alexander von Humboldt, John and Washington Roebling, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Conrad Aiken, and Frederic Remington.^[28] McCullough's second biography continued the trend of writing about American presidents. Truman, about Harry S. Truman, the 33^rd president, was released in 1993. The book won McCullough his first Pulitzer Prize, in the category of "Best Biography or Autobiography."^[29] Two years later the book was adapted into Truman, a television movie by HBO, starring Gary Sinise as Truman.^[9]

"I think it's important to remember that these men are not perfect. If they were marble gods, what they did wouldn't be so admirable. The more we see the founders as humans the more we can understand them."

— David McCullough ^[30]

Working for the next seven years,^[31] McCullough released John Adams; his third biography about a United States president, in 2001. One of the fastest-selling non-fiction books in history,^[9] the book won McCullough's second Pultizer Prize, also for "Best Biography or Autobiography."^[29] Beginning as a book about founding fathers Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, the former was eventually dropped and the book focused solely on the second president.^[30] HBO returned to McCullough's works to adapt John Adams.^[32] Premiering in 2008, the seven-part miniseries starred Academy Award-nominated actor Paul Giamatti in the title role.^[32]

McCullough's latest work, 1776, tells the story of the founding year of the United States, with focus on George Washington, the amateur army, and other struggles for independence.^[31] Due to McCullough's popularity, its initial printing saw 1.25 million copies made, many more than the average history book.^[4] Upon its release, the book was a number one best-seller in the United States.^[31] HBO is scheduled to release a miniseries adaptation of 1776 in 2009, possibly involving Tom Hanks, who produced John Adams.^[33][34]

McCullough considered writing a "sequel" to 1776.^[31] However, he has signed a new contract with Simon & Schuster to do a work about Americans in Paris; it is scheduled for release in 2010.^[5] Spanning multiple topics and people, "the book will touch on achievements in literature, medicine, art, architecture, music and dance."^[5]

Awards and accolades

McCullough has received numerous awards throughout his career. His works have been published in ten languages, and over nine million copies have been printed.^[1] A rarity among writers, none of McCullough's eight books have gone out of print.^[3] In December 2006, McCullough received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award that a United States citizen can receive.^[4] He has been awarded over 40 honorary degrees. For his writing, McCullough has received two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, two Francis Parkman Prizes, the Los Angeles Times Book Award, and New York Public Library’s Literary Lion Award, among others.^[35][15] He is a member of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship^[36] and the Academy of Achievement.^[37] McCullough is widely referred to as a "master of the art of narrative history."^[38] The New York Times critic, John Leonard, wrote that David McCullough was "incapable of writing a page of bad prose".^[24] David McCullough was chosen to deliver the first annual John Hersey Lecture at Yale University on March 22, 1993. (Author, Yale alumnus and Yale writing professor John Hersey died later that year.)^[39].

Works

Books

Narrations

McCullough has narrated many television shows and documentaries throughout his career. In addition to narrating the 2003 film Seabiscuit, McCullough hosted PBS's American Experience from 1988–1999.^[30] McCullough has also narrated numerous documentaries directed by Ken Burns, including Emmy Award winning The Civil War,^[30] Academy Award nominated Brooklyn Bridge,^[41] The Statue of Liberty,^[42] and The Congress.^[43]

List of films presented or narratated

• Brooklyn Bridge (1981)
• Smithsonian World (5 episodes, 1984-1988)
• The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God (1984)
• The Statue of Liberty (1985)
• Huey Long (1985)
• The Congress (1988)
• The Civil War (9 episodes, 1990)
• American Experience (23 episodes, 1991-2006)
• Seabiscuit (2003)

References

External links

• Main page at Simon & Schuster
• David McCullough at the Internet Movie Database

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