Remembering 'America's Storyteller' by Cassie Skobrak

August 14, 2022

Read on for this week's guest column with The Westerly Sun.

I distinctly remember, back in the very beginning of my library career, pulling the book “1776” off the shelf for the umpteenth time and thinking “Wow, this gets a lot of attention for a boring old history book”. Don’t judge me too harshly — I’ve never been a history buff, and didn’t know anything about David McCullough at the time, so I couldn’t fathom why so many people were interested in a 400-page tome about the Revolutionary War. Little did I know that McCullough was a two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner, two-time National Book Award-winner, and best-selling historian who was often heralded as “America’s Storyteller.” He passed away last week at the age of 89.

David McCullough’s impressive career as an author spanned more than half a century; his first book, “The Johnstown Flood,” came out in 1968, and his last work, “The Pioneers,” was published in 2019. The first told the story of the Great Flood of 1889, which absolutely devastated the down of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, when the South Fork Dam burst and released 20 million gallons of water. McCullough’s approachable writing style and masterful research quickly made the book a best-seller, and launched his 50-year writing career.

In interviews, McCullough often spoke about his love of research, and how he wrote about things he was interested in. This is evident in his books, which cover everything from the Wright Brothers to the Brooklyn Bridge. Perhaps his best known works, though, were his presidential biographies: “Truman” (1992) and “John Adams” (2001), both Pulitzer Prize-winners.

Though arguably best known for his writing, McCullough also appeared in many TV shows and documentaries. His distinctive baritone voice narrates the award-winning 1990 Ken Burns series “The Civil War” as well as the 2003 Hollywood hit “Seabiscuit”. For more than a decade, McCullough hosted the popular and educational PBS series “American Experience.” How he found the time and energy for all of these projects, I have no idea, but librarians and history-lovers alike are certainly glad that he did.

All of these books and movies are available for checkout through the Ocean State Library consortium with your library card.

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