In Celebration of Books

In Celebration of Book features Adam Goodheart, Spring 2026

Adam Goodheart

Adam Goodheart is a historian, travel writer, essayist, and author of The Last Island: Discovery, Defiance, and the Most Elusive Tribe on Earth (September 2023). He lives in Washington, D.C., and on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where he is director of Washington College’s Starr Center for the Study of the American Experience. Goodheart’s articles have appeared in National Geographic, Outside, Smithsonian, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine, among others. He is the recipient of a Public Scholar Award from the National Endowment for the Humanities, as well as a Lowell Thomas Award from the Society of American Travel Writers.

He is also featured in a two-hour National Geographic documentary about North Sentinel Island, “The Mission,” premiering in theaters and streaming in late 2023.

Goodheart’s first book, the New York Times bestseller 1861: The Civil War Awakening, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in history and was named Book of the Year by the History Book Club; the audiobook edition won the Audie Award for best history title of the year. A cover review in the New York Times called it “exhilarating” “inspiring,” and “irresistible,” adding, “1861 creates the uncanny illusion that the reader has stepped into a time machine.”

Among its other honors, 1861 was cited among the best books of the year by the New York Times, The Atlantic, Kirkus Reviews, Slate, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble. President Obama invited Goodheart to the Oval Office to recognize 1861’s role in having Fort Monroe, Va.—in which part of the book is set—declared a national park. He has made many broadcast media appearances, including on NPR’s “Fresh Air,” “Morning Edition,” and “All Things Considered,” as well as on the BBC, CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and the History Channel.

Mission
At Gunston, we believe in the transformative power of language and the study of writing as craft. Our In Celebration of Books program is one way that we instill these values in our students. Each year, we invite a writer of local, regional, and national prominence to our campus. Consistent with our mission of educating “ethically and environmentally minded scholars, citizens, and leaders for our globalized society,” the program features authors from all fields and disciplines. In addition to a public reading or talk, each guest also visits the classroom, where students have the unique opportunity to interact with them in a highly-personalized environment. 

History
For nearly three decades, In Celebration of Books has been a revered tradition at Gunston. It began in the boarding school days, where teachers would dress as their favorite authors. In time, the program evolved into a full day of workshops and readings that brought as many as twelve renowned writers to campus. Our current format is designed to provide students with consistent exposure to living writers, whose areas of expertise align with our curricular programming. Over the course of their four years at Gunston, students can expect to hear a diverse array of voices, from journalists and novelists to poets, historians, environmentalists, and other scientists.

Gunston has hosted such notable writers as the late Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter Richard Ben Cramer; Nathaniel Philbrick, National Book Award winner for In the Heart of the Sea; the former poet laureate of Maryland, Michael Glaser; Tom Horton, author of numerous books about the ecology of the Chesapeake Bay region; and poet Nick Flynn, whose memoir was the basis for the film, Being Flynn, starring Robert DeNiro.

Past Authors