“The only protection as a historian is to institute a process of research and writing that minimizes the possibility of error.”—Doris Kearns Goodwin
My wayfaring existence, with a great deal of time spent behind the wheel, lends itself to listening to audiobooks.
Nothing quite takes the place of reading material in one’s hands, which is why I still buy a newspaper. But the novel is easily transposed to voice, and good writing and good narration make for good company on the highway.
Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin has been riding shotgun with me for the past month. Her 1994 book, “No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II,” won the Pulitzer Prize for History. After listening to 37 of the 39 hours of the audiobook, I readily see why the book was recognized.
The content alone has been worth the listen for all the reasons one would expect of such a pivotal time in world history. It is styled as a narrative, chronicling the Roosevelt partnership in life and politics. The backdrop, of course, is the looming global conflict during Hitler’s rise in the 1930s, only one of the many challenges the Roosevelt administration faced.
What surprised me, however, is that I found myself thinking about the writer’s process in compiling the information found in this masterpiece. It is a history book. From its content, it is obvious the author relied on primary source documents such as diaries, letters, news reels, government records, journalists’ accounts of the day, and interviews done with family and friends of the Roosevelts and other key figures in the book.
When Kearns Goodwin authored this book thirty years ago, she did so without the benefit of the Internet. I assume she visited museums and presidential libraries. No doubt she wrote letters of inquiry and made phone calls. In other words, writing a book such as this was a monumental endeavor.
Sadly, the time and effort it takes to be accurate and truthful is becoming a fading craft among writers. Many have settled for dispersing information quickly for a fast buck. These fly-by-night publications of historic nonfiction diminish the work of a writer like Kearns Goodwin.
Historians worth their salt are storytellers using skillful research to preserve the truths of the past. If someone wrote your life’s history, wouldn’t you want them to record it with such diligence? Facts are fairly subjected to analysis and interpretation, but proven historians do not alter facts in order to create a false narrative.
Kearns Goodwin’s research was impeccable in “No Ordinary Time.” Our country boasts other historians and journalists who have told the stories of people and events with thoughtful integrity. We owe much gratitude to the likes of Jon Meacham, Bruce Catton, David Mc-Cullough, Ken Burns, Laura Hillenbrand, and David Brinkley for the tedious work of composing the stories in books and documentaries for posterity.
Our job is easy. Just read—or listen—and learn.
Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West Texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.
