Garrison Keillor’s “The Writers’ Almanac” posted this greeting:
It’s the birthday of American author, historian, and narrator David McCullough (books by this author), born in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (1933). McCullough has won two Pulitzer Prizes, both for nonfiction books about presidents. The first was for Truman (1993); the second was for John Adams (2001).
At Yale University in the early 1950s, McCullough took a writing class with novelist Robert Penn Warren, who required his students to slip a fresh piece of original prose under his door each day at 8:30. If they didn’t, they received a zero. McCullough said, “It was a great way to learn discipline.” He also grew close to playwright Thornton Wilder, who advised him to look for stories that hadn’t been written yet, and write them.
After graduation, McCullough worked at Sports Illustrated as a writer. One editor at the magazine had a red stamp with a four-letter word on it: dull. McCullough grew to fear receiving the stamp on his work, so he became meticulous with his writing. It was later, while working at American Heritage magazine, that he really thought he might become a writer. “Once I discovered the endless fascination of doing research and of doing the writing, I knew I had found what I wanted to do with my life.”
For many years, he wrote in a small, windowed shed in the backyard of his Martha’s Vineyard
home. He said, “Nothing good was ever written in a large room.” The shed had no running water and no telephone. Family members had to whistle when they approached so as not to startle McCullough. On his desk were a green banker’s lamp and a Royal typewriter, which he had freshly oiled for each new book.
When asked how he chooses which historical figure to write about, he admitted to quitting a project on the painter Pablo Picasso. He said: “He was an awful man. I don’t think you have to love your subject — initially you shouldn’t — but it’s like picking a roommate. After all, you’re going to be with that person every day, maybe for years, and why subject yourself to someone you have no respect for or outright don’t like?”
My brother was a big fan of McCullough’s books. He had many of them on the shelves of his library. Though he spent all of his working years in business, he was a historian at his core. He was a history major in college, and he was a leader in a Revolutionary War reenactment group. When my brother passed away two years ago, his reenactment group sent a large honor guard in Revolutionary War uniforms to his funeral. They honored his service and devotion to keeping history alive.
Thank you, David McCullough, for so many hours of interesting and exciting reading! I love your books! Happy birthday!!
His books on Adams and Truman are American treasures. Incredible research and writing.
Maybe a tangent, but his son gave a well regarded graduation speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lfxYhtf8o4
Diane: Thank you for this . . . . I love that man, and his voice. CBK
Fill in the blank
According to Mary Trump’s new memoir, Donald J. Trump, who plays President of the United States on television, _______.
A. Didn’t have to prepare for the SAT because he is a stable genius.
B. Applied himself to test prep coaching and taking practice tests so he could get a good score on the SAT.
C. Received a rare 100 percent on his SAT.
D. Paid someone to take the SAT for him.
OK. I know. That question was toooooo easy! Let’s try this one: Why did Donald Trump pay his lawyer, Michael Cohen, to write letters to his former schools threatening them with legal action if anyone leaked his academic records?
A. All public figures do that.
B. Being a naturally modest fellow, Trump doesn’t want people to see how insanely great his grades were.
C. This didn’t happen; Cohen just made that up.
D. Donald Trump’s grades prefigured the knowledge and understanding of the world that he has demonstrated on the world stage (e.g., send astronauts to the sun, windmills cause cancer, climate change is just weather–Science; Belgium is a city–geography; inject disinfectant, Covid19 will just go away–Medicine; the Continental army’s capturing the airports, our great Confederate heroes–history; bigly, unpresidented, covfefes, tapp my phones–English).
Yikes. The answer to that second question doesn’t directly answer the question. Oh for the ability to edit WordPress comments! LOL.
I love it. Give me good books, a lamp, and a good typewriter in a small, windowed shed. Betsy can keep her ten yachts.
“On his desk were a green banker’s lamp and a Royal typewriter, which he had freshly oiled for each new book.”
I love these small rituals great writers seem to have. It humanizes them. Stephen King once said he smokes a single celebratory cigarette whenever he finishes writing a book. It should have been a carton for “The Shining”….