Historian David McCullough dies at Hingham home: 'I don’t want it just to be readable.'

Ruth Thompson Wicked Local

Published Aug 8, 2022

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian David McCullough has died at his home in Hingham.

The best-selling author, television host and narrator was 89.

Called “the name and the voice of American history” by author Ron Chernow, McCullough is perhaps best known for his 1992 Pulitzer-winning biography of Harry Truman. 

In 2001 he spoke with a Cape Cod Times reporter about his then-upcoming biography of John Adams, which would lead to his second Pulitzer.

The initial plan was to write a dual biography about Adams and Thomas Jefferson, McCullough said in 2001.  But during his research he became more fascinated with Adams rather than Jefferson

He said wanted to show that Adams does not fit the stereotype many Americans have of the Founding Fathers as “soft” figures in a costume pageant.

“All I wanted to do with give this man the credit he is due, credit he’s been due long since,” McCullough said at the time.

McCullough's long career

Fascinated with architecture, he wrote early in his career about the Panama Canal in “The Path Between the Seas,” and the Brooklyn Bridge in “The Great Bridge.”

He also wrote a biography about Theodore Roosevelt in “Mornings on Horseback.”

He received the National Book Award for his writing about the Panama Canal and Roosevelt.

Additionally, his book, “Truman” inspired a 1995 HBO film starring actor Gary Sinise, and the 2001 HBO mini-series “John Adams” was based on his book, “John Adams.”

In 2006, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

McCullough was born in Pittsburg

Born to Ruth and Christian McCullough in Pittsburgh in July 1933, one of four sons, McCullough spoke fondly of his childhood, and of his affinity for history, starting at a young age.

He attended Yale University, with a major in English, and was a member of the Skull and Bones society. 

Graduating in 1955 with honors, McCullough worked at the year-old "Sports Illustrated," as a writer and editor at the United States Information Agency, and on the "American Heritage" history magazine.

In 1968, in his first book, "The Johnstown Flood," he wrote about the dam failure that let to the flood in Pennsylvania in 1889, killing more than 2,000 people

The book was well-received and launched his career.

Rosalee Barnes was a Massachusetts native and they raised a family there

McCullough met his wife, Rosalee Barnes, at a spring dance in 1951.  Born in Taunton and raised in Mansfield, Barnes had been visiting friends in Pittsburgh when she met McCullough.  They married in 1954 and lived in several states before settling in Hingham.

In 1965 they bought a house on Music Street in West Tisbury on Martha’s Vineyard.

McCullough has described her as his editor, muse, and closest friend. 

The couple had five children. 

Rosalee Barnes McCullough died in June at age 89.

For years McCullough wrote in the private tranquility of a small cedar-shingled shed not far from his back door, at the edge of a field.  He typed his manuscripts on a manual Royal Standard typewriter he had purchased for less than $50 in White Plains, New York in 1965.

McCullough worked with Ken Burns and more on documentaries

McCullough’s distinctive voice can be heard in the PBS series, “The American Experience” from 1988 to 1999, as well as in Ken Burns’ 1990 documentary, “The Civil War.”  He hosted the television series “Smithsonian World,” and is the narrator of the 2003 film “Seabiscuit.”

Meet the Rhode Island filmmaker:First to turn the camera on documentary legend Ken Burns

He was the focus of a 40-minutes HBO documentary in 2008, “Painting with Words.”

“I think of writing history as an art form,” he said in the documentary.  “And I’m striving to write a book that might, might, qualify as literature. I don’t want it just to be readable. I don’t want it just to be interesting. I want it to be something that moves the reader. Moves me.”

LINK