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About this Author
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He is called the "citizen chronicler" by Librarian of Congress James Billington. His books have led a renaissance of interest in American history--from learning about a flood in Pennsylvania that without warning devastated an entire community to discovering the private achievements and frailties of an uncelebrated president. His biography of Harry Truman won him a Pulitzer, as did his most recent biography of another president, John Adams.
David McCullough throws himself into the research of his subjects, tracing the roads they traveled, reading the books they read, and seeing the homes they lived in. His diligence pays off in detailed and engaging narratives. In receiving an honorary degree from Yale University the citation praised him: “As an historian, he paints with words, giving us pictures of the American people that live, breath, and above all, confront the fundamental issues of courage, achievement, and moral character.”
Meeting Thornton Wilder at Yale as an undergraduate inspired McCullough to become a writer--his first love, in fact, had been art. While at college he also met his wife, Rosalee. He learned his craft working atSports Illustrated, at the United States Information Agency, and at American Heritage. McCullough researched and wrote his first book in the precious hours away from his job with American Heritage;The Johnstown Flood came out in 1968. It was a story and region familiar to McCullough, who was born and raised in nearby Pittsburgh. The book was a success and he became a full-time author. Since then, McCullough has given us six more books--The Great Bridge, The Path between the Seas, Mornings on Horseback, Brave Companions, Truman, and John Adams--earning him two Pulitzer Prizes, two National Book Awards, and two Francis Parkman Prizes from the American Society of Historians. His other honors include a Charles Frankel Prize, a National Book Foundation Distinguished Contribution to American Letters Award, and a New York Public Library’s Literary Lion Award.
From the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) website - for more see below...
Monday, May 11 • 11 a.m. (ET)
David McCullough: “The Wright Brothers”
Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner David McCullough tells the story of the brothers who taught the world to fly in his new book "The Wright Brothers".
David McCullough to lecture on Truman’s Presidency and World War II (3:30pm)
FAU’s Alan B. Larkin Symposium on the American Presidency in the Department of History will present David McCullough with the lecture, “Truman’s Presidency and World War II at 70” on Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 3:30 p.m. in the Carole and Barry Kaye Auditorium, FAU Student Union, 777 Glades Road, Boca Raton campus. Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by visiting www.fauevents.com or by calling 1-800-564-9539.
McCullough has been widely acclaimed as a “master of the art of narrative.” He won the Pulitzer Prize twice and the National Book Award twice. His books include “Truman,” a biography of the 33rd president; “John Adams,” one of the most praised and widely read American biographies of all time; “1776”; and the New York Times’ bestseller “The Greater Journey: American in Paris.” His work has been published in 10 languages and more than 9 million copies of his books are in print.
McCullough’s visit is sponsored by the Alan B. Larkin Symposium on the American Presidency, which is housed in the Department of History in the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters. The symposium was established by the family of the late Alan B. Larkin to honor his passion for the American presidency
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