Today I have the pleasure of introducing Jim McClure, editor of the York Daily Record/Sunday News in York, Pa. Jim has penned numerous history books, including the recently released “East of Gettysburg” on Kindle (previously available in hardback). I’ve worked with Jim for more than a decade, and he’s one of my heroes. Not only is he a terrific journalist and author, but the best mentor I’ve ever had.
He’s agreed to kick off my Take Five series. If you’re a published author and would liked to be featured, email me at Buffy@ydr.com and put “Take Five” in the subject line. And now, meet Jim.
Jim McClure
Editor of York Daily Record/Sunday News and author
Historian and author
Books: All available here
“Never to be Forgotten, A Year-By-Year Look at York County’s Past”
“Nine Months in York Town, American Revolutionaries Labor on Pennsylvania’s Frontier”
“Almost Forgotten, A Glimpse at Black History in York County, Pa.”
“East of Gettysburg, A Gray Shadow Crosses York County, Pa.”
“In the Thick of the Fight, York County, Pa., Counters the Axis Threat in WWII.”
“Civil War Voices From York County, Pa” (co-authored with Scott Mingus)
“Echoing Still: More Civil War Voices from York County, Pa.” (co-authored with Scott Mingus)
Blog: York Town Square
Questions
Q. If you could have dinner with any historical figure, who would it be and what would you ask?
A. Jonathan Edwards was a 18th-century theologian and philosopher, a leading New England intellectual of his day. He produced a body of work so large that scholars at Yale and elsewhere have spent years preparing it for publication and still have a way to go. I would ask him simply: “How did you do so much, so provocatively, so well?
Q. What book are you currently reading and in what format (ebook/paperback/hardcover)?
I’m working through MLA’s Top 100 novels, either via reading or listening to audiobooks. (I’m about at 65/100.) The audiobook in my car right now is D.H. Lawrence’s “Women in Love.” The book I’m reading from MLA’s top picks is Philip Roth’s “Portnoy’s Complaint.” I always have a non-fiction work going, too. I’m now into Os Guinness’ “A Free People’s Suicide,” a provocative book that deals with how we can sustain freedom in America.
Q. Where and when do you prefer to do your writing?
A. Writing is an enjoyable habit that must be addressed every day, in the morning, preferably in our newsroom. There’s nothing like blogging to the sound of the police scanner squawking five feet away. Really.
Q. Share one of your favorite quotes.
A. This isn’t particularly literary but it’s a quote fellow journalist Mike Argento got when George H.W. Bush endorsed then-fellow Republican Arlen Specter in York County about 20 years ago. “This is not a normal kind of endorsement,” Bush said about Specter. “I really mean it.”
Q. What book have you learned the most from?
A. I think books on religious themes or written by those holding Christian or other views are often overlooked sources for insight. So many historians seek to understand and explain the life and times of people from history without equipping themselves to address the spiritual side of the people they’re studying.
Yes, this Jim McClure is quite an interesting fellow. Have wanted to sit an chat with him myself...but he is a very busy man. Your lucky to have him within a few walking steps as a mentor.
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