David Nasaw (born July 18, 1945) is an American author,
biographer
Biographers are authors who write an account of another person's life, while autobiographers are authors who write their own biography.
Biographers
Countries of working life: Ab=Arabia, AG=Ancient Greece, Al=Australia, Am=Armenian, AR=Ancient Rome ...
and
historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the stu ...
who specializes in the cultural, social and business history of early 20th Century America. Nasaw is on the faculty of the Graduate Center of the
City University of New York
The City University of New York ( CUNY; , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven Upper divis ...
, where he is the
Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.
Arthur Meier Schlesinger Jr. (; born Arthur Bancroft Schlesinger; October 15, 1917 – February 28, 2007) was an American historian, social critic, and public intellectual. The son of the influential historian Arthur M. Schlesinger Sr. and a s ...
Professor of History.
In addition to writing numerous scholarly and popular books, he has written for publications such as the ''
Columbia Journalism Review
The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its contents include news and media industry trends, ana ...
'', ''American Historical Review'', ''American Heritage'', ''
Dissent
Dissent is an opinion, philosophy or sentiment of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or policy enforced under the authority of a government, political party or other entity or individual. A dissenting person may be referred to as ...
'', ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
'', ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', ''
The Wall Street Journal
''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...
'', ''
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...
'', ''
The London Review of Books
The ''London Review of Books'' (''LRB'') is a British literary magazine published twice monthly that features articles and essays on fiction and non-fiction subjects, which are usually structured as book reviews.
History
The ''London Review of ...
'', and ''
Condé Nast Traveler
''Condé Nast Traveler'' is a luxury and lifestyle travel magazine published by Condé Nast. The magazine has won 25 National Magazine Awards.
The Condé Nast unit of Advance Publications purchased ''Signature'', a magazine for Diners Club memb ...
''.
Nasaw has appeared in several documentaries, including ''The American Experience, 1996'', and two episodes of the
History Channel
History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...
's April 2006 miniseries ''
10 Days That Unexpectedly Changed America'': "The
Homestead Strike
The Homestead strike, also known as the Homestead steel strike, Homestead massacre, or Battle of Homestead, was an industrial lockout and strike that began on July 1, 1892, culminating in a battle in which strikers defeated private security agent ...
" and "The
Assassination of President McKinley".
He is cited extensively in the US and British media as an expert on the history of popular entertainment and the news media, and as a critic of American philanthropy.
Early life and education
David George Nasaw was born on July 18, 1945, in
Cortland, New York
Cortland is a city and the county seat of Cortland County, New York. Known as the Crown City, Cortland is in New York's Southern Tier region. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 17,556.
The city of Cortland, near the county's western ...
, the oldest son of lawyer Joshua Nasaw (19091970) and Beatrice Kaplan (19172010), an elementary school teacher.
[Donna Duffy]
"Obituary – Beatrice Nasaw"
, ''The Roslyn News'' (March 24, 2010). Nasaw is the older brother of Jonathan Lewis Nasaw (b. August 26, 1947), the prolific author of at least nine
thrillers
Thriller is a genre of fiction, having numerous, often overlapping subgenres. Thrillers are characterized and defined by the moods they elicit, giving viewers heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, surprise, anticipation and anxiety. Suc ...
; and Elizabeth Perl Nasaw (May 29, 1956 February 28, 2004), who as "Elizabeth Was" (later "Liz Was" and finally "Lyx Ish") was a poet and publisher of
avant-garde
The avant-garde (; In 'advance guard' or ' vanguard', literally 'fore-guard') is a person or work that is experimental, radical, or unorthodox with respect to art, culture, or society.John Picchione, The New Avant-garde in Italy: Theoretical ...
magazines,
and the cofounder of Xexoxial Editions and
Dreamtime Village
Dreamtime Village is an intentional community in West Lima, Wisconsin, United States, whose residents participate in various permaculture, hypermedia, and sustainability projects. Dreamtime was founded in 1990 by Madison artists mIEKAL aND and Lyx ...
in
West Lima, Wisconsin
West Lima is an unincorporated community in the Town of Bloom, Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. The community is located at the intersection of County Highway A and County Highway D.
History
In its heyday West Lima had 700 residents, ...
.
Nasaw grew up in
Roslyn, New York
Roslyn ( ) is a village in the Town of North Hempstead in Nassau County, on the North Shore of Long Island, in New York, United States. It is the Greater Roslyn area's anchor community. The population was 2,770 at the 2010 census.
History
Ro ...
, and, after a year studying in Denmark as an exchange student, graduated from
Roslyn High School
Roslyn High School is a public high school in Roslyn Heights, New York, United States, and is the only high school in the Roslyn Union Free School District, serving all of the district's students in grades 912.
History
The property that Roslyn ...
in 1963. Nasaw graduated from
Bucknell University
Bucknell University is a private liberal arts college in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1846 as the University at Lewisburg, it now consists of the College of Arts and Sciences, Freeman College of Management, and the College of Engineering. ...
with a Bachelor of Arts in 1967, before enrolling in
Columbia University
Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...
, where he was awarded a Ph.D. in 1972
for his dissertation "Jean-Paul Sartre: Apprenticeship in History (1925–45)".
While studying at Columbia University, for more than two years from 1970 Nasaw was one of two full-time teachers in the Elizabeth Cleaners Street School, a short-lived experimental alternative free high school founded in New York City. The experience gave rise to the book "Starting Your Own High School," written by the students and edited by Nasaw.
Career
Nasaw began teaching history at the
College of Staten Island
The College of Staten Island (CSI) is a public university in Staten Island, New York. It is one of the 11 four-year senior colleges within the City University of New York system. Programs in the liberal arts and sciences and professional studi ...
in 1978.
["Nine Leading Scholars Named Distinguished Professors"](_blank)
''CUNY Matters'' (October 2001). During the 1987–1988 academic year, he was as a Fulbright Professor of American Studies at
Hebrew University
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...
in Jerusalem. Nasaw has been on the doctoral faculty of the City University of New York's Graduate Center since 1990,
where he also served as chairman. He was director of the CUNY Graduate Center's Center for the Humanities, and the chairman of the advisory board of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the university.
Nasaw is a founder of the ''
Radical History Review
''Radical History Review'' is a scholarly journal published by Duke University Press.
The journal describes its position as "at the point where rigorous historical scholarship and active political engagement converge". ''.
Personal life
Since June 10, 1978, Nasaw has been married to
Dinitia Smith
Dinitia Smith (born December 26, 1945) is an American author and filmmaker.
Early life
Smith was born in Cumberland, Maryland, and raised primarily in Great Britain, where her father was a journalist. She came to the United States in 1959, and ...
, a novelist,
Emmy award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
-winning filmmaker, and journalist, who worked as a correspondent for ''The New York Times'' for 12 years. They are the parents of twin sons: Peter Caleb Nasaw and journalist Daniel Allen Nasaw, born in 1980.
Thoughts
Although he has published three biographies, Nasaw describes himself as an academic historian, rather than a biographer. A historian, he says, "sweeps away the fables, the myths, the stories" and places scholarly subjects "in time and over time", while for biographers, the organization of the work is laid out in advance. "Writing history is not an art but a craft," Nasaw has said. "It requires interpretation and fifty sources and integrating and assembling this material into a story told by an individual voice."
Awards
* 2013 – Finalist,
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
for biography
* 2007 – Finalist,
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
for biography
* 2006 –
American History Book Prize
The New-York Historical Society gives three book prizes annually. From 2005 to 2012 there was one award for American history. A second award was added in 2013 for children's history. A third award was added in 2016 for military history.
Barbara a ...
* 2006 –
New-York Historical Society
The New-York Historical Society is an American history museum and library in New York City, along Central Park West between 76th and 77th Streets, on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The society was founded in 1804 as New York's first museum. ...
American History Book Prize
* 2001 –
Bancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas.
It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
* 2001 –
Ambassador Book Award
The Ambassador Book Award (1986–2011) was presented annually by the English-Speaking Union. It recognized important literary and non-fiction works that contributed to the understanding and interpretation of American life and culture. Winners of ...
* 2001 –
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book that exemplifies, "literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern.” The prize is given by the Nieman Foundation and by the Columbia ...
* 2001 – Ann M. Sperber Biography Award for Journalism
Bibliography
Books
*
* ''Schooled to Order: A Social History of Public Schooling in United States'' (Oxford University Press, 1979, 1980).
* ''Children of the City: At Work and at Play'' (Anchor Press/Doubleday, 1985; Oxford University Press, 1986).
In this Nasaw's highly cited history, Nasaw "unearthed the long-forgotten story of the Newsboy Strike." The book inspired the Disney film ''
Newsies'' and the subsequent Broadway musical.
* ''Course of United States History: To 1877'', Vol. 1, ed. (Thomson Wadsworth, 1987)
* ''Going Out: The Rise and Fall of Public Amusements'' (Basic Books, 1993)
''Going Out'' "unearths fascinating details about everything from the early history of the movies to pre-World War I dance crazes," wrote critic Jackson Lears in the New York Times. Nasaw "raises fundamental questions about the web of connections joining commercial play, public space and cultural cohesion," he wrote.
* ''The Chief: The Life of William Randolph Hearst'' (Houghton Mifflin, 2000)
Nasaw's 2000 biography of the American newspaper baron was praised as "an absorbing and ingeniously organized biography... of the most powerful publisher America has ever known", and for "immediacy that almost makes the reader forget that the author himself was not there as the story unfolded". In 2001, ''The Chief'' won the
J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize
The J. Anthony Lukas Book Prize is an annual award in the amount of $10,000 given to a book that exemplifies, "literary grace, a commitment to serious research and social concern.” The prize is given by the Nieman Foundation and by the Columbia ...
and the
Bancroft Prize
The Bancroft Prize is awarded each year by the trustees of Columbia University for books about diplomacy or the history of the Americas.
It was established in 1948, with a bequest from Frederic Bancroft, in his memory and that of his brother, ...
for American history. It was nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award.
* ''Andrew Carnegie'' (Penguin Press, 2006)
Nasaw's 2006 biography of the American steel mogul, was a finalist for the 2007
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...
for biography.
A reviewer praised Nasaw for "bringing to life the fascinating world of business moguls, statesmen, journalists and intellectuals in which Carnegie moved." Praising Nasaw's "keen all-rounder's eye",
Christopher Hitchens
Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...
wrote: "The great strength of this immense biography is the way in which David Nasaw causes these tributaries — capitalism, radicalism, and educational aspiration — to converge like the three rivers (the Allegheny, the Ohio, and the Monongahela) whose confluence makes the site of Pittsburgh possible." The book was among ''The New York Times 100 Notable Books of the Year, and among the Favorite Books of 2006 by the ''Los Angeles Times'', which praised it as "a fresh and thorough assessment."
* ''The Patriarch: The Remarkable Life and Turbulent Times of Joseph P. Kennedy'' (Penguin Press, November 2012)
Following the success of Nasaw's 2000 biography of
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
, Senator
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician who served as a United States senator from Massachusetts for almost 47 years, from 1962 until his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic ...
approached Nasaw to write a biography of his father, Kennedy patriarch
Joseph P. Kennedy
Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...
. Nasaw told the family that as an academic historian, he had no interest in writing an "authorized biography".
"I told him I would undertake this project if I had guarantees to see all the documents at the Kennedy Library and elsewhere, and if I were free to write whatever I wanted, with no censorship or interference of any kind," Nasaw said. Senator Kennedy said he had read and admired Nasaw's book on Hearst and believed the historian would make a "fair evaluation of his life and contributions." The Kennedy family agreed to sit for interviews and to make Joseph Kennedy's private papers available. After publication, the book was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 2013.
*
Articles
* "Earthly Delights,"
The New Yorker' March 23, 1998
* "The Empire Builders,"
' November 24, 2002
* "Hitler, Stalin, O'Malley and Moses,"
' May 25, 2003
* "A Real Nice Clambécque,"
' September 21, 2003
* "They Wanted to Shape Up America,"
' September 27, 2003
* "Billionaires to the Rescue,"
' July 4, 2006
* "Giving back, big time," ''Los Angeles Times'' – November 2, 2006
* "Looking the Carnegie Gift Horse in the Mouth,"
' November 10, 2006
* "We Can't Rely on the Kindness of Billionaires,"
' September 23, 2007
* "The Rich Threaten Democracy,"
Pittsburgh Tribune' October 14, 2007
* "A Violent Regeneration,"
American Prospect' May 23, 2009
* "Banking on the Future," ''The Wall Street Journal'' – May 17, 2011
*
Critical studies and reviews of Nasaw's work
;''The last million''
*
*
References
External links
*
gc.cuny.edu
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nasaw, David
American biographers
Living people
21st-century American historians
21st-century American male writers
City University of New York faculty
Historians of the United States
Columbia University alumni
Hebrew University of Jerusalem faculty
People from Cortland, New York
1945 births
Bucknell University alumni
People from Roslyn, New York
Historians from New York (state)
Roslyn High School alumni
College of Staten Island faculty
Bancroft Prize winners
American male non-fiction writers