YCGL - The New Adventure - David McCullough and Solar Panel - August 27, 2022
I just learned that David McCullough died August 7 at 89. He was an incredible writer and he will leave a big hole in understanding the history of the United States. He's written eleven books, of which I have read most of them. And if you don't know him as an author, you know his voice. He was the narrator of Ken Burn's "Civil War" and the movie Seabiscuit. I just watched an interview with him on 60 Minutes from 2013 when he was 80. (Its 27 minutes, so plan ahead.)
60 Minutes Interview with David McCullough
David McCullough Talking about George Washington
Aargh! I had written about a whole page and a power outage hit and its all gone. The first book I read of his was "1776" (2005). He had finished "John Adams" in 2001 and had gathered so much information that he "had" to write 1776. Its a wonderful book, really alive about Boston. The first time I was in Boston was in 1973-4 while I was with Moretrench. We were bidding on a job there, and the salesman wanted me with him. I really didn't have much to add, but it gave me a chance to see a little of the city and how it was laid out. It made reading the book more enjoyable.
The second book read was "John Adams". This was/is one of the most influential books I have read. (In high school, I was asked "What are the three most influential books you've read?" The answer was easy, the Bible, Hamlet and How to Win Friends and Influence People. John Adams would be on that list now.) Why? Adams was an interesting man. He was blunt, vain, direct, proud, self-important, and irritated people around him. He was also a family man and farmer with a Law degree from Harvard. He was sharp, smart, a truly dedicated servant of the people and of the idea of democracy in the united colonies. A man of morals and moral conviction. A hard scrabble visionary. And brilliant enough to marry Abigail Adams. He wrote most of the Massachusetts's constitution which prepared him to write the US constitution. He was the Continental Congress' representative to France (along with Thomas Jefferson and Ben Franklin). After a year in which basically nothing happened, he got fed up and went to Holland and learned Dutch and was able to borrowed the money that the colonies needed to conduct the war. He paid his way on his own. The book also talked about the founding of the United States and the struggle to get it started and financed. There are just lots of pieces to it. I made it a recommended reading book in my sophomore level Introduction to Civil Engineering course. (Pulitzer Prize winner.)
Next I read "Mornings on Horseback" about Theodore Roosevelt from youth to gaining the presidency. (National Book Award)
"Truman" came next. He was also a heroic figure like Adams. It takes him from a failed haberdasher to standing up to Stalin at Potsdam as president. Many people have taken him as simple and plain, but he was a real strategist with insight into people and motives. Again, a fascinating character study. (Pulitzer Prize winner.)
Next came "The Great Bridge." about the history of the Brooklyn Bridge, the father John Roebling, son Washington and Washington's wife Emily, who became the construction superintendent for the bridge after Washington became incapacitated. (David had his own strong wife, Rosalee. She died in June of this year; they had been married for 68 years. One of their children said "She is the star we have all steered by.)
Sally and I listened to "The Wright Brothers" driving down to Texas to see mom and my brothers. McCullough was the reader and it was riveting to listen to. We had a number of "driveway moments" listening, where you sit in the car and listen until there was a breakpoint. Even Sally was intent on that.
When we were getting ready to take our Panama Canal cruise with Bob and Loraine right as CoVid started, I read the "The Path Between the Seas." It is the 60 year saga of constructing the Panama Canal. (National Book Award)
Interestingly, I have not read "The Johnstown Flood" about the dam break which killed 2200 people in 1889. For someone who taught "Design of Small Earth Dams", it seems inexcusable. Nor "Brave Companions: Portraits in History", a compilation of biographies he had written. Nor "The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris", but I have heard chapters of it. (They did a part of the 60 Minute interview in Paris, where he recounted his own experiences being a young American in the city of light.)
So there you have an outline of books read and books yet to read.
And a story. When they were boys, David McCullough and Wyoming Senator Al Simpson attended the same boarding school and became life long friends. One day, probably around 2008-10, Al invited David and his wife Rosalee to come to Wyoming and stay with him at their house in Cody. And to come to the University of Wyoming and give a talk and have a dialog with Al. It happened to be at 10:00 on a Tuesday at the same time as my Intro to Civil Engineering class. As I always told my students, "Don't let school get in the way of your education", so the class saw David McCullough in person. When I talked to Al several years later, I thanked him for doing that. We agreed it was a lot of fun.
Something else McCullough talked about in the 60 Minute interview was the observation (and fact) that students nowadays don't learn history and its implications. But he doesn't blame teachers, he blames parents for not spending time to teach their children history, art, ethics, etc. One of his suggestions was to re-establish family dinners. That was one of Sally's requirements. We would eat dinner together as a family, no matter when dad got home. It was a time to talk, listen and share. I still treasure that time we had all together.
When I started writing this, I looked around on the floor around my computer. My office(s) at home looks like my office on campus, books, papers and things hanging from shelves and scattered in deep piles on the floor. My copy of "1776" was laying there, face up, about two feet away from my chair, with a couple of crossword puzzles stuck in it. (Other of the books are stuck randomly in my "have read" shelves.) It was a birthday gift to me from Erik and Liz. The book was published in 2005 and I had heard about it on NPR. Inside the cover, Erik had written:
"To a father who instilled in his children not only history, but also literature, science, music, travel and an appreciation for many of the fine parts of life. Love, Erik '05
And Liz wrote: "What he said! XOXOXO, Liz"
What can you say? I think Sally and I did alright! And not much else left to say. I can talk about the solar panel project later....
I've really enjoyed his books
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