The Parallel Lives

Ken Burns, the filmmaker, met David McCullough, the historian, on the stage at the 92Y in New York City in May 2015, and together they discussed, before a live audience, McCullough’s most recent book, “The Wright Brothers,” published that year. 

     McCullough gushes about Wilbur and Orville’s achievement. He says, “For two brothers who never finished high school, this is a powerful American story, with many lessons to be learned.

     “It is an extraordinary accomplishment. We owe them a debt of gratitude.

     “How hard they worked. They were not just brilliant, but unwavering. Nothing would stop them. They had high purpose, their way to find happiness, a wonderful and worthy ambition. 

     “In the movie “Butch Cassidy and Sundance Kid,” Paul Newman, who played the role of Butch Cassidy, shouts, ‘Who are these guys?,’ when he refers to the lawmen chasing them.

     “The same can be said of the two Wright brothers? Who are these guys?

     “They were not in it to get rich or famous. They did it without any backing from any deep-pocketed donors. The Federal government slammed a door in their faces four times. 

     “Their story is so revealing, a wonderful human interest story.”

     Ken Burns says, “I like Wilbur Wright’s comment, ‘If I were giving a young man advice as to how he might succeed in life, I would say to him, pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio.” Indeed, McCullough places that quote on page one of his book.

     McCullough points out that “the first person to fly an aircraft, in December 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was Orville Wright. The first person to step onto the moon, in July 1969, was Neil Armstrong.”

     Orville was from Dayton, Ohio, Armstrong from Wapakoneta, Ohio, 56 miles from Dayton.

     Wilbur and Orville never married. In essence, four people lived together for years in a house at 7 Hawthorn Street in Dayton, after their mother Susan died, when quite young.

     Their father, Bishop Milton Wright, an official in the United Brethren Church, was often away on church business for months every year, Wilbur and Orville worked together in the Wright bicycle shop, and Katharine graduated from college and taught Latin in Dayton’s high school.

     There was no running water or electricity in their home, but there were books, lots of books. All four were great readers, especially Wilbur. After a hockey stick knocked out most of Wilbur’s  front teeth, he began a massive reading project that continued for years, his college at home.

     Years later, Orville said, “The greatest thing in our favor was growing up in a family where there was encouragement to expand and incite our intellectual curiosity.”

     McCullough points out that “when Wilbur arrived his first time in France, the French people were floored by how much he knew about European history, music, and architecture. No American was ever as popular in France as was Wilbur Wright, save for Benjamin Franklin.

     “The French people loved his modesty, his courage, his perseverance.”

     Someone said, that “the problem of flight is one thousand problems thrown at you at once.” But Wilbur and Orville were methodical, in that they tackled each as it appeared.

     First, they designed a three-axis control system for roll, yaw, and pitch. Then, they fashioned an aerodynamic wing by studying birds in flight. Next, they built a light-weight aircraft. Then, they built an aluminum engine to provide propulsion. Piloting skills was next.

     McCullough says, “It is one thing to build a flying machine, another thing to fly it,” and Orville said, “The secret of flight is like learning the secret of magic from a magician.” 

     It is well worth watching Burns and McCullough’s hour-long interview. The book is a delight.