Garry Wills facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Garry Wills
Wills at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library in 2015
Born	(1934-05-22) May 22, 1934 (age 91) Atlanta, Georgia, US
Occupation	Author journalist historian
Alma mater	Saint Louis University (BA) Xavier University (MA) Yale University (PhD)
Period	1961–present
Subject	American politics and political history, the Catholic Church
Notable works	Nixon Agonistes (1970) Inventing America (1978) Lincoln at Gettysburg (1993)
Notable awards	Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction (1993) National Medal for the Humanities (1998)
Spouse	Natalie Cavallo ​ ​ (m. 1959; died 2019)​

Garry Wills (born May 22, 1934) is an American author, journalist, and historian. He is an expert on American history, politics, and religion, especially the history of the Catholic Church. For his writing, he won a famous award called the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction in 1993.

Wills has written more than 50 books. Since 1973, he has also written for The New York Review of Books, a well-known magazine. He started teaching history at Northwestern University in 1980 and is now an Emeritus Professor, which is a title for respected retired professors.

Early Life and Education

Garry Wills was born in Atlanta, Georgia. His father was Protestant and his mother was Irish Catholic. He was raised in the Catholic faith. He grew up in Michigan and Wisconsin and went to a Jesuit high school, which is a type of Catholic school.

For a short time, Wills studied to become a priest in the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits) but decided to leave. He went on to earn several university degrees. He received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Saint Louis University and a Master of Arts degree from Xavier University. He then earned a PhD in classics from Yale University in 1961. Classics is the study of ancient Greek and Roman culture.

After finishing his education, he taught history at Johns Hopkins University for almost 20 years before moving to Northwestern University.

Personal Life

Wills was married to Natalie Cavallo for 60 years, from 1959 until she passed away in 2019. She often helped with his work and took photographs for his books. They had three children together: John, Garry, and Lydia.

Because he studied classics, Wills can read and speak ancient Greek and Latin. His home in Evanston, Illinois, was filled with books. He had separate rooms and hallways dedicated to different subjects like English literature, American politics, and Greek philosophy. One hallway had four shelves just for books about St. Augustine, an important early Christian thinker.

Religious Views

For most of his life, Wills was a devoted Catholic. He attended church services and prayed the Rosary every day. He even wrote a book about this type of prayer in 2005.

However, Wills has also been a critic of the Catholic Church. He has questioned some of its teachings and actions throughout history. For example, he disagreed with the doctrine of papal infallibility, which is the idea that the Pope cannot be wrong on certain matters of faith. He also criticized the church's social teachings and how it handled serious problems within the church.

In 1961, he came up with the phrase Mater si, magistra no. This is a mix of Latin and Spanish that means "mother yes, teacher no." It showed that he loved the faith and traditions of the church (the "mother") but did not always agree with its official authorities (the "teacher").

In 2024, Wills said he no longer calls himself a Catholic. Instead, he describes himself as an "Augustinian Christian," following the teachings of St. Augustine. He said his late wife, Natalie, had a big impact on his thinking.

Political Views

Wills's political views have changed over time. When he was younger, he was considered a conservative. In politics, a conservative person often prefers traditional values and less government involvement. He even worked for a conservative magazine called National Review.

During the 1960s and 1970s, he wrote about the Civil rights movement and protests against the Vietnam War. These experiences led him to adopt more liberal views. A liberal person often supports social progress and more government action to solve problems.

In his book Confessions of a Conservative, he wrote about his break from the conservative movement. He supported Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

Views on the Second Amendment

In 1995, Wills wrote an article about the Second Amendment, which deals with the right to own guns. He argued that the amendment was written to apply to a military group, like a state militia, not for individuals to own guns for any reason.

He also said the amendment does not give people the right to fight against the U.S. government. He explained that the Constitution calls for fighting against the government "treason," which is a very serious crime. He thought it was strange that some people believe the Constitution would both forbid treason and encourage citizens to do it.

Honors and Awards

Wills has received many awards for his writing and work.

• 1978: National Book Critics Circle Award for Inventing America
• 1992: National Book Critics Circle Award for Lincoln at Gettysburg
• 1993: Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction for Lincoln at Gettysburg
• 1998: National Medal for the Humanities
• 2004: St. Louis Literary Award
• 2006: Order of Lincoln, the highest honor from the state of Illinois

Works