David McCullough @ Ohio Theatre 10.21 You can't help but be impressed by David McCullough. He's received more awards than any American has a right to expect: two Pulitzer Prizes, a National Book Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom- the nation's highest civilian award. Yet to hear him speak, extemporaneously, it seems, humbly, honestly, he comes off as a guy who came by all his wits through the simple act of reading books. A full house consisting partly of a librarian's convention, at an event hosted by the Cuyahoga County Public Library and introduced by Cleveland State University president Dr. Michael Schwartz, the evening was an intellectual's delight. Personally, I attended because, I reasoned, it's the kind of thing you do when you live a life of the mind. Little did I know that McCullough's talk would reference more of the real world than the inches between one's ears.

Fresh off a big success with the HBO adaptation of his book, John Adams, produced by Tom Hanks, McCullough is even wise in the ways of Hollywood. Most producers who wanted to make movies from his work praise his books, then make it obvious they have never read them. Tom Hanks brought a dog-eared and Post-It noted copy of John Adams to their first meeting in Ketchum, Idaho, and McCullough knew he was the guy to do honor to his biography of our second president.

Quotes flowed freely throughout the 75-minute talk, many of them used as punchlines to key concepts that McCullough emphasized. To understand that "leaders are readers," is to know that key historical quoted fluently from their own readings, and that the quality of their leadership was directly proportional to the amount of reading they had done. Another phrase, "writing is thinking" tells us how important it is for sentient adults to work out their thoughts on paper, surprising themselves and validating their own impressions. Without mentioning current politics, McCullough let us know that " it is perilous to assume that because people are in a position of responsibility, that they will act responsibly." The quintessential quote came from Alexander Pope: "Act well your part; there all honor lies," a sentiment that guided our early leaders, but seems lost on today's administrators.

'''McCullough left us with a couple of phrases to live by: "However little television you watch, watch less." And he let us know that the best we can do for our children is to "instill the ambition to excel."

from Cool Cleveland writer Thomas Mulready [LettersATCoolCleveland.com

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