RIP David McCullough, wow, what an impact he had.
- Thread starter LionJim
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David McCullough was a treasure and he will be missed.
Attended the same elementary school as Nathaniel Philbrick.
Attended the same elementary school as Nathaniel Philbrick.
Just saw that . He was an amazing journalist , who had class , and loved baseball very much . RIP Mr.McCullough you will be missed .
He wasn't a journalist. Loved baseball? Hmmmmm, no particular evidence of that.
I want to take the opportunity to extol the excellence of his first three, probably lesser known, books: The Johnstown Flood, The Great Bridge, and The Path Between the Seas.
Thanks for the recco.....will have to check them out.
Very much liked 1776 and John Adam's bio.
I always prefer history over straight biography. These three are just superb in their wide focus and their detail. They are just wonderful reads.
Oh no, my favorite author, I have just about everything he had written. This is a great loss to the cultural fabric of the nation.
RIP Mr. McCullough.
RIP Mr. McCullough.
I’m not much of a book reader but I attacked that John Adams book like I attack a 12 pack of Sierra Nevada on a Friday night.
McCullough was a good writer, and employed a great team of assistants/researchers. (I know one person who served in that role for several of McCullough's books, and then went on to author some great histories about aspects of the American Revolution.)
McCullough's John Adams is a classic. The interesting thing about it is he went into the project thinking of writing about the relationship between Jefferson and Adams, and his opinion before the start of the project was that Jefferson was the more interesting Founder. By the time he got to writing the manuscript, he had changed his mind about which of the Founders was more interesting, and decided to focus solely on Adams.
1776 is a good book, and one I've recommended to a number of people that ask me for a recommendation for a book about the American Revolution/founding of the USA. For me, it really didn't have any details that I didn't already know, but it was nicely organized and easy to read.
I own several of his other books, but so far they are just taking space in my bookcases. Hopefully, I can find some time to read one or more of them in the coming years.
McCullough's John Adams is a classic. The interesting thing about it is he went into the project thinking of writing about the relationship between Jefferson and Adams, and his opinion before the start of the project was that Jefferson was the more interesting Founder. By the time he got to writing the manuscript, he had changed his mind about which of the Founders was more interesting, and decided to focus solely on Adams.
1776 is a good book, and one I've recommended to a number of people that ask me for a recommendation for a book about the American Revolution/founding of the USA. For me, it really didn't have any details that I didn't already know, but it was nicely organized and easy to read.
I own several of his other books, but so far they are just taking space in my bookcases. Hopefully, I can find some time to read one or more of them in the coming years.
PBS used a lot of his books and other materials for a number episodes on famous people
Maybe the poster was confusing him with David Halberstam?
Both amazing writers, though only DH was gone too soon (I mean, I loved DM, but it's hard to complain when you get 89 turns around the sun)
There is no confusion on my part cavic McCullough was an out standing novelist , I simply miswrote about him being a journalist , I am a huge fan of both McCullough and Halberstam. McCullough was asked by Ken Burns many years ago to do some narration for him on a project .on baseball . And no not that segment he did just recently , It was another one
For those of us with culture , or who raised on the finer points of life , we watch a lot of PBS . And McCullough did a lot of work for that network . His many books were turned into may projects by PBS
Again those of us with culture would know this . Again my apologies for the clerical error . And he was a baseball fan .
As I said a typo . And I apologized for it as well . What part of that escapes so many . Well on this board , manyThose of us with culture know what a novelist is.
Those of us with culture know what a novelist is.
I know what a real estate novelist is.
I've often wondered what that was. I also wonder why someone who killed a man in Reno, NV, just to watch hime die, is doing time in Folsom, CA.
And just like that, I recognize that I am the one sending a thread off topic.
I did read 1776 (which left me wanting 1777-1783), Adams, and especially The Bridge.
There, back on topic.
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Those of us with culture know what a novelist is.
Yeah, it’s the person who is the most novel.
I know Lindsay Chervinsky. She's a historian who does a nice job of presenting her information -- a trait she shares with David McCullough. She's currently working on a book about the cabinet of John Adams -- a followup to her book about how George Washington and his secretaries established what has come to be known as the President's cabinet.
She wrote a nice, and balanced, tribute to David McCullough. (And if I understand correctly, it started as a series a tweets she made about McCullough, which The Bulwark noticed, and invited her to expand into a tribute about McCullough.)
She wrote a nice, and balanced, tribute to David McCullough. (And if I understand correctly, it started as a series a tweets she made about McCullough, which The Bulwark noticed, and invited her to expand into a tribute about McCullough.)
I have read two of the three and agree completely with you. The only one I have not read is The Great Bridge. One note in The Johnstone Flood he outlines that someone had the road on the dam widened so his carriage could cross. He doesn’t name the individual but other sources make it clear that this was Henry Frick, giving us another reason to hate Frick.
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