L.E. McCullough, Ph.D. is a Pittsburgh author/editor of 52 published books spanning non-fiction, fiction, drama, instructional, business, technical, eBook and audiobook formats covering subjects ranging from world music, playwriting, Christmas and holidays, American and world history, science, language arts, religion, folklore, Shakespeare, mythology and current events.
His most recent book, My Years with Townes Van Zandt: Music, Genius, and Rage (co-authored with Harold F. Eggers, Jr.) was published by Hal Leonard/Backbeat Books.
As a journalist Dr. McCullough has written over 1,200 newspaper and magazine articles on music, theatre, arts and lifestyle topics for a diverse array of more than 70 publications including Billboard, Vista, Living Blues, Singout, Texas Highways, La Prensa, USA Today, New Groves Dictionary of Music in the U.S. and ethnic and daily metropolitan papers in Pennsylvania, Texas, Colorado, New Jersey, New York and Indiana.
As a writer of poetry, fiction and drama, Dr. McCullough’s work has crossed innumerable stylistic and demographic boundaries, with 182 poem and story publications in 93 North American literary journals and 48 awards in 33 regional and national literary competitions, including the 1995 debut of his first New York-produced play, Blues for Miss Buttercup, that won the Urban Stages Emerging Playwrights Award and two Bistro Awards.
Dr. McCullough has written and published 27 theatre books (including 176 original plays and 333 original monologues) that have established him as a leader in the field of contemporary Children’s & Educational Theatre; since 1999 his Plays of America for Young Actors book has been named to Glencoe/McGraw-Hill Recommended Reading List alongside works like To Kill a Mocking Bird, Great Expectations, Lord of the Flies and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Dr. McCullough’s plays are performed in the U.S., Canada, Africa, Asia, Australia, China, Europe and the Middle East — in schools, churches, synagogues, community centers, festivals, museums, historical societies and theatre venues of all kind. His recent playwriting commissions include works on 1920s jazz bandleader Charlie Davis, World War II journalist Ernie Pyle (Indiana Historical Society), Col. Eli Lilly, founder of Eli Lilly Company (Nineteenth Star Productions), Ben Franklin (Historic Philadelphia, Inc.), Galileo (1st Run Productions), President Grover Cleveland (Grover Cleveland Birthplace Memorial Association), Sister Frances Ward (Carlow University), Mother Catherine McAuley (Georgian Court Univerity) and the U.S. Constitution (National Constitution Center).
He holds a Ph.D. in ethnomusicology from the University of Pittsburgh and has recorded with numerous Irish, French, Cajun, Latin, blues, jazz, country, bluegrass and rock ensembles on 52 albums for Angel/EMI, Sony Classical, RCA, Warner Brothers, Log Cabin, Kicking Mule, Rounder, Bluezette and other independent labels. Formerly the Assistant Director of the Indiana University School of Music at Indianapolis and the Administrative Director of the Humanities Theatre Group at Indiana University-Purdue University at Indianapolis, Dr. McCullough is the author of six music and music business instruction books (The Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tutor, The Complete Irish Tinwhistle Tunebook, Favorite Irish Session Tunes, The AMIC Music Industry Guide, St. Patrick Was a Cajun, Whistle Around the World) and the instructional video Learn to Play Irish Tinwhistle.
He has composed filmscores for three PBS specials produced by WQED-TV (Alone Together, A Place Just Right, John Kane) and three Celtic Ballets co-composed with T.H. Gillespie (Connlaoi’s Tale: The Woman Who Danced On Waves, The Healing Cup: Guinevere Seeks the Grail, Skin Walkers: The Incredible Voyage of Mal the Lotus Eater).
He has performed on the music tracks of the Ken Burns PBS television series The West, Lewis and Clark, The Dust Bowl, The Roosevelts, Not for Ourselves Alone: The Story of Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony and the Warner Brothers film Michael Collins.
As a teacher, Dr. McCullough has transmitted his experience and expertise to thousands of others, teaching dozens of seminars, workshops and university classes for children and adults in music, writing, play production and arts marketing, public relations, management and administration.
With his diverse public policy background, he is often employed as a consultant to aid in restructuring and reviving businesses and organizations by utilizing a wide repertoire of communication strategies, leadership skills and diverse employment experience.
Links:
Theatre: https://www.educationalclassroomplays.com/
Fiction: https://lemccullough.weebly.com/
Music: https://lemcculloughswhistleblog.wordpress.com/
General Multi-Arts: https://lemccullough.wordpress.com/
Social Essays: https://medium.com/@lemccullough
