David K. Dunaway

Introduction

David is an oral historian and a biographer in print, radio, and podcast. Among other projects, for the last thirty years he has documented the work of Pete Seeger, resulting in How Can I Keep From Singing? The Ballad of Pete Seeger, published by McGraw Hill in 1981 and revised, updated, and republished by Villard/Ballantine, 2008.

Author of ten volumes of history and biography, Dunaway’s specialty is the presentation of folklore, literature, and history via public broadcasting. Over the last years he has been Executive Producer of award-winning national radio series for NPR and Public Radio International, including “Writing the Southwest” (1995); “Aldous Huxley’s Brave New Worlds” (1998); “Across the Tracks: A Route 66 Story” (2001); and “Pete Seeger: How Can I Keep From Singing?” (2008). He is currently a DJ for KUNM-FM and Professor at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.

Podcasts

New for 2024, original podcast episodes!

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David Dunaway
Department of English Language and Literature
MSCO3-2170
1 University of New Mexico
Albuquerque, NM 87131-0001

Radio Series

Across the Tracks: A Route 66 Story

This radio series tells the fascinating, hidden story of America’s Mother Road, over 90 years old. Meet rockstar Ry Cooder, a rocket scientist on Route 66, and hundreds of other everyday heroes on America’s most famous road, including excerpts of old radio, films, period music, and original interviews (3 hours on 3 CDs).

Pete Seeger: How Can I Keep From Singing? (2008)

reveals an inside history of American folk music’s most famous and controversial performer in three, one-hour documentaries with music and historic audio, heard on hundreds of stations coast-to-coast and on NPR. A companion to the print biography How Can I Keep From Singing?:The Ballad of Pete Seeger.

Writing the Southwest

Narrated by famed author Rudolfo Anaya, this series of 13 award-winning, half-hour radio documentaries opens this dynamic region to visitors and residents alike, through interviews and readings from its most prominent authors:

• Edward Abbey, Joy Harjo, Tony Hillerman
• Barbara Kingsolver, Rudolfo Anaya, Terry McMillan, and more.

Aldous Huxley: Brave New Worlds (1996)

Dunaway brings us the voices behind Huxley’s prolific American years, using interviews with Huxley’s family and friends, radio drama, his FBI files, and little-known scripts of Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. Huxley’s visions of our future include the first novel on human cloning, Brave New World, and The Doors of Perception, which the named rock group “The Doors”.

Books

A Route 66 Companion (University of Texas Press, 2012)

Even before there was a road, there was a route. Buffalo trails, Indian paths, the old Santa Fe trace—all led across the Great Plains and the western mountains to the golden oasis of California. America’s insatiable westering urge culminated in Route 66, the highway that ran from Chicago to Los Angeles. Opened in 1926, Route 66 became the quintessential American road.

How Can I Keep From Singing? The Ballad of Pete Seeger (Villard/Ballerine, 2008)

For those interested in music biographies and folk music revivals–or anyone looking for a truly American story, Seeger’s biography reveals how the son of a respectable Puritan family became a consummate performer and American rebel.

Writing the Southwest
(Plume, 1995. University of New Mexico Press, 2003.)

by David Dunaway and Sara Spurgeon. (Book plus CD combination) This assemblage of interviews, bibliographies, excerpts, and criticism on fourteen of the Southwest’s most important authors has been updated and expanded.

Huxley in Hollywood (Harper Collins, 1990)

Huxley’s American biographer reveals the story behind the origin of Citizen Kane and other terrific Hollywood tales from an expatriate film community that included Thomas Mann, Greta Garbo, Charlie Chaplin, and Christopher Isherwood. Drawn from hundreds of original interviews and written over five years of research, Dunaway’s award-winning biography was also presented via radio (see link below).