"Master of Narrative History" Welcomes Booksellers to Brooklyn

Pulitzer Prize-winning author and former Brooklynite David McCullough welcomed booksellers to Brooklyn.

The focus was on literary history, and the signature appeals of Brooklyn, as the American Booksellers Association's annual convention at BookExpo America kicked off at Hotel ABA, the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge. The day began with an afternoon keynote presentation by David McCullough, author of 1776, John Adams, and The Great Bridge: The Epic Story of the Building of the Brooklyn Bridge (all S&S), among other titles.

Welcoming the nearly 300 booksellers, ABA President Russ Lawrence of Chapter One Book Store in Hamilton, Montana, said, "Brooklyn is such a kick -- I'm having a great time here," including a corned beef hash and cheesecake breakfast at the famed Junior's restaurant a day earlier. He added, "And I've not had to eat since."

Introducing McCullough, Lawrence characterized him as "a longtime friend to independent booksellers" and praised him as "a master of the art of narrative history." He noted the author's 31 honorary degrees, and said, "Not everyone can say they have a degree for every flavor at Baskin-Robbins."

McCullough quickly established a relaxed atmosphere and connected with the booksellers throughout his welcoming, humorous, and insightful talk. Thanking Lawrence for the introduction -- and for the mention of his wife, Rosalie -- McCullough praised her as "my editor-in-chief, mission control, secretary of the treasury, and chair of the ethics committee."

After his Welcome to Brooklyn speech, David McCullough talked with and autographed books for booksellers.

McCullough turned to another subject close to his heart: the Brooklyn Bridge. He talked of his own journey to New York as a young husband and father. He and his wife settled in Brooklyn, which he called "so American, yet so filled with what comes from elsewhere in the world."

The author encouraged booksellers to get out and see Brooklyn: "I urge you to go to Fort Greene, the centerpiece of a tribute to the martyrs that died on British prison ships during the Revolutionary War. It's a place every American should go to see." He also suggested they visit Greenwood Cemetery, the site of the Battle of Brooklyn: "There's nothing quite like it."

McCullough told the audience there's nothing like writing a book, either. "I've never embarked on a book about a subject I knew very deeply," he said. "To me, it's the journey, the discovery that goes with the work -- the sense of being in a country I've never been in before. That's the excitement, that's the pull."

McCullough said that, when he set out to write The Great Bridge, he was doing so "by impulse." He'd just finished his first book, The Johnstown Flood: The Incredible Story Behind One of the Most Devastating 'Natural' Disasters America Has Ever Known, and in the process learned how to do research at the New York Public Library, where he went on his lunch break from his job.

McCullough said that, in writing The Johnstown Flood, he also learned that "just because people are in positions of responsibility doesn't mean they are acting responsibly."

He also felt "we can do extraordinary things, often against the greatest kind of adversity and daunting odds. I was looking for a subject that could be a metaphor for that." That subject: the Brooklyn Bridge.

He called the bridge "the greatest structure America ever built.... The Brooklyn Bridge is a symbol of New York because it is a work of art, not just a utilitarian construction by engineers."

McCullough went on to describe George Washington's daring escape from Brooklyn in August 1776, and to reveal that John Adams was "one of the most proudly, deeply read Americans of his bookish day."

Said McCullough, "It's important to read what they wrote in those days. It's also extremely important to read what they read. We are what we read to a far greater degree than people realize."

McCullough concluded his talk with an historical tidbit -- and a literary exhortation -- that inspired a standing ovation: "In 1825, Emerson called on Adams, who said, 'I wish there were more ambition to excel.' Let's do what we can to bring back that attitude." --Linda M. Castellitto