DAVID MACAULAY

risd connection: Bachelor of Architecture, 1969; honorary trustee; honorary degree recipient; national chair of RISD’s “Future by Design” capital campaign

talent: Macaulay writes and illustrates books that use humor and wit to explore and explain the world, making seemingly complex concepts readily accessible.

breaking in: Although he studied architecture at RISD, by the time he had fallen in love with Rome during his European Honors year abroad, Macaulay realized that he was not really cut out to be an architect. A couple of freelance jobs illustrating textbooks after graduation led him to begin dreaming of creating his own books. When he approached Houghton Mifflin with his ideas — one being a story about a gargoyle beauty pageant set in medieval France — veteran children’s book editor and fellow RISD grad Walter Lorraine '52 AD said, “Great idea, but get rid of the gargoyles.” So in 1973 Macaulay wrote Cathedral, a book about the planning and construction of a French Gothic cathedral. It was a smashing success, winning a Caldecott Honor Award and opening the door to a succession of show-and-tell books.

getting there: Ever the student, Macaulay-the-explainer traveled to Rome to write City (1974) and to Cairo and Luxor for Pyramid (1975). In preparing for Ship (1993), he could be found underwater in full scuba gear, scrutinizing a sunken shipwreck off the coast of Mexico. But by far the most research — three years of painstaking effort working with technical experts — went into The Way Things Work (1988), which has sold more than 2.5 million copies worldwide, and The New Way Things Work (1998), which is also available on CD. Television adaptations of a number of his titles, along with translations into dozens of languages, have sealed his reputation as a visual educator par excellence.

making it: With a mind that works in wonderful ways, Macaulay has not only proven to be an extraordinary innovator but an ambitious one, having written and illustrated more than 20 books to date. Rome Antics (1997) offers a whimsical journey through his favorite city from the perspective of a carrier pigeon, while Building Big (2000) — a combined book and five-part TV series — focuses on the complexities of building bridges, tunnels, dams, domes and skyscrapers. Angelo (2002) continues his love affair with Rome through a charming tale of the bond between a master plasterer and a pigeon he begrudgingly rescues, and his most recent book, Mosque (2003), details the construction of a hypothetical 16th-century Ottoman mosque. In 1991 Macaulay’s playful narrative Black and White won the Caldecott Medal and in 1997 the National Endowment for the Humanities awarded him top honors. He has also been nominated twice for a Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international distinction given to an author or illustrator of children's books.

discoveries: 1) “Regardless of how much time I have for a project, I use 90 to 95 percent of it thinking. You can call it procrastination, but in fact it’s not.” 2) “I’m not an expert; I’m an illustrator.” 3) “Being an explainer is really a nice job. You get to be a student forever.”