David McCullough

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David Gaub McCullough
David McCullough speaking at Emory University, on April 25, 2007
Born	July 7, 1933 (1933-07-07) (age 74) 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 http://www.simonsays.com/content/destination.cfm?tab=1&pid=328883

David Gaub McCullough (mə-kŭl'ə) (born July 7, 1933 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania)^[2] is an American author, narrator, and lecturer.^[3] A two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Francis Parkman Prize, he is widely referred to as a "master of the art of narrative history."^[4] He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award, in December 2006.^[3][5] His works have been published in ten languages, and over nine million copies have been printed.^[1] His eight books, all published by Simon & Schuster, have never gone out of print, a rarity among writers.^[3][4] The New York Times critic, John Leonard, said that David McCullough was incapable of writing a page of bad prose.^[6] McCullough's next work, about Americans in Paris, is due out in 2010.^[7]

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Writing career 2.1 Early career 2.2 Good news McCullough 2.3 "History is about people" 2.4 Awards and accolades 3 Works 3.1 Monographs 3.2 Narrations 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Early life and education

Born to Christian Hax and Ruth McCullough,^[8] McCullough was educated at Linden Avenue Grade School and Shady Side Academy, in his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.^[9] One of four sons, McCullough had a "marvelous" childhood; his interests ranged from sports to drawing cartoons.^[10] McCullough "loved school, every day";^[10] he contemplated many career choices ranging from architect, actor, painter, writer, lawyer, and even attending medical school.^[10]

In 1951, he, as did his three brothers, began attending classes at Yale University.^[11] 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.^[12] He occasionally ate lunch with Pulitzer Prize winning^[13] novelist and playwright Thornton Wilder.^[12] While at Yale, he became a member of Skull and Bones.^[14] He served apprenticeships at Time, Life, the United States Information Agency, and American Heritage.^[12] 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."^[12] He would graduate with honors in English literature in 1955.^[15][16]

[edit] Writing career

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 at the dinner table about history, a topic which he feels should be discussed more often.^[1] He attended Yale, studying arts and achieving his bachelor's degree in English, with the intention of becoming a fiction writer or playwright.^[1] He was never trained in research technique, learning during the writing process of The Johnstown Flood.^[1]

[edit] Early career

After graduation, McCullough moved to New York City where recently formed Sports Illustrated hired him, as a trainee.^[10] He would later be hired by the United States Information Agency, in Washington, D.C. as an editor and writer.^[2] After working various jobs for twelve years, with a consistent concentration on editing and writing, McCullough "felt that [he] had reached the point where [he] could attempt something on my own."^[10] 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."^[10] While working at American Heritage, McCullough wrote in his spare time for three years.^[10][17] The Johnstown Flood, a chronicle of one of the worst flood disasters in United States history, was released in 1968;^[10] to high praise by critics.^[18] John Leonard, of The New York Times, said of McCullough, "We have no better social historian."^[18] Despite rough financial times,^[11] McCullough, with encouragement from his wife, Rosalee, made the decision to become a full-time writer.^[19]

[edit] Good news McCullough

After the success of The Johnstown Flood, two new publishers offered him a contract, one to write about the Great Chicago Fire, another about the San Francisco earthquake.^[20] However, Simon & Schuster, publisher of The Johnstown Flood, also offered McCullough a contract to write a second book.^[11] Trying not to become "Bad News McCullough",^[20] he decided to write about a subject showing "people were not always foolish and inept or irresponsible."^[20] 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."^[11] McCullough decided to write a history of the Brooklyn Bridge, which he had walked across many times.^[11]

"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 ^[12]

He also proposed, from a suggestion by his editor,^[1] a work about the Panama Canal; both were accepted by the publisher.^[11] Published in 1972, critics hailed The Great Bridge as "the definitive book on the event."^[21] Five years later, The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal was released, gaining McCullough widespread attention for the first time.^[11] The book won the National Book Award for history,^[22] Samuel Eliot Morison Award,^[23] the Francis Parkman Prize,^[24], and the Cornelius Ryan Award.^[25] Later in 1977, McCoullough travelled to the White House to advise Jimmy Carter and the United States Senate on the Panama Canal; Carter would later say 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.^[23]

[edit] "History is about people"

McCullough's fourth work, was his first biography, reinforcing his belief that "history is the story of people".^[6] 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.^[26] The work, ranging from 1869 to 1886, beginning when Roosevelt was ten years of age, tells of a "life intensely lived."^[26] 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.^[27] Next, a collection of essays which, "unfold seamlessly"^[28] entitled Brave Companions, was released from McCullough. The essays, which were written over a twenty-year period,^[29] included works about Louis Agassiz, Alexander von Humboldt, John and Washington Roebling, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Conrad Aiken, and Frederic Remington.^[29] 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."^[30] Two years later the book was adapted into a television movie by HBO, starring Gary Sinise as Truman.^[11] Sinise won Screen Actors Guild Award and a Golden Globe for his performance.^[31][32]

"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 ^[33]

Working for the next seven years,^[34] McCullough released John Adams; his third biography about a United States president in 2001. One of the fastest selling non-fiction books in history,^[11] the book won McCullough's second Pultizer Prize, also for "Best Biography or Autobiography."^[30] 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.^[33] HBO returned to McCullough's works to adapt John Adams.^[35] Premiering in 2008, the seven-part miniseries starred Academy Award-nominated actor Paul Giamatti in the title role.^[35] 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.^[34] Due to McCullough's popularity, its initial printing saw 1.25 million copies made, many more than the average history book.^[5] Upon its release, the book was a number one best-seller in the United States.^[34] HBO is scheduled to release a miniseries adaptation of 1776 in 2009, possibly involving Tom Hanks, who produced John Adams.^[36][37]

McCullough had stated that his next work could be a "sequel" to 1776,^[34] 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.^[7] Spanning multiple topics and people, "the book will touch on achievements in literature, medicine, art, architecture, music and dance."^[7]

[edit] Awards and accolades

McCullough has received numerous awards throughout his career. In December 2006, McCullough received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest award that a United States citizen can receive.^[5] 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.^[38][17] He is a member of the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship^[39] and the Academy of Achievement.^[40]

[edit] Works

[edit] Monographs

Title	Year	Awards[41]
The Johnstown Flood	1968
The Great Bridge	1972
The Path Between the Seas	1977	National Book Award - 1978 Francis Parkman Prize - 1978 Samuel Eliot Morison Award - 1978 Cornelius Ryan Award - 1978
Mornings on Horseback	1981	National Book Award - 1982
Brave Companions	1992
Truman	1992	Pulitzer Prize - 1993 The Colonial Dames of America Annual Book Award - 1993
John Adams	2001	Pulitzer Prize - 2002
1776	2005	American Compass Best Book - 2005

[edit] Narrations

• Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided (2001)
• Battle of the Bulge (1994)
• Brooklyn Bridge (1995)
• The Civil War (1990)
• Degenerate Art (1993)
• The Donner Party (1992)
• Eisenhower (1993)
• FDR (1994)
• Huey Long (1985)
• LBJ: A Biography (1991)
• Napoleon (2000)
• Seabiscuit (2003)
• Secrets of a Master Builder (2000)
• The Shakers: Hands to Work, Hearts to God (1985)
• The Statue of Liberty (1996)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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