Renowned Author David Macaulay to Speak at New England College
David Macaulay, award-winning author and illustrator, will give a presentation and book signing at New England College on Wednesday, September 15 at 7:15 in the Simon Center. The presentation, sponsored by the Friends of the New England College Library, is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
David Macaulay’s fascination for how things are built and how they work has translated into a career of demystifying these complex processes for all to enjoy. International audiences of all ages have marveled at his series of books describing the world’s great architectural wonders and how they were created. Starting in 1973, Macaulay introduced readers to the intricate construction details of a cathedral. Following the success of Cathedral, Macaulay brought to life the workings of City, Castle, Pyramid, Mill, Underground, Unbuilding, and Mosque. Five of these popular illustrated books were later developed into a television series by PBS.
Macaulay shared his talent for lighthearted picture books through Rome Antics, which traces the route of a wayward homing pigeon through the streets of the ancient city, and Shortcut, a collection of short stories that feature common themes and characters. His book, Black and White, which received the prestigious Caldecott Medal in 1991, is comprised of four stories that converge into one delightful read.
More recently, Macaulay has turned his attention from how things are built to how things work. His award-winning international bestseller, The Way Things Work, was updated and expanded in 1998 and released as The New Way Things Work. In it, Macaulay enlists the help of a woolly mammoth to explain the workings of a variety of machinery to non-technical audiences everywhere. The New York Times described The New Way Things Work as “a superb achievement.”
Macaulay unlocks the mysteries of the most complicated system of all in his book, The Way We Work. With his distinctive brand of humor and his uncanny ability to make the complex seem simple, Macaulay describes how the human body works.
Over the years his work has received international acclaim and David Macaulay is the recipient of numerous awards including the Caldecott Medal and Honor Awards, the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Christopher Award, and the Washington Post-Children’s Book Guild Nonfiction Award. He was a two-time nominee for the Hans Christian Andersen Award, and he received the Bradford Washburn Award, presented by the Museum of Science in Boston to an outstanding contributor to science. In 2006, Macaulay was awarded a prestigious MacArthur Fellowship and in 2008 he was invited to deliver the May Hill Arbuthnot Honor Lecture by the American Library Association.
David Macaulay’s latest contribution to the understanding of human endeavor, Built to Last, will be released this fall.
He received his bachelor’s degree in architecture from the Rhode Island School of Design and spent his fifth year in Rome in the European Honors Program.
