Charlottesville, Virginia
June 29, 2020
How many fathers do you know who have a Wikipedia entry, are professors emeritus at a prestigious university, have their names in a NYT headline from the US Amateur and just had a letter published in the NYT. Plus are fathers of one of your good friends? And went to the same prep school as Jeff Harris? And who served on a ship named for Ron Wiltsie’s grandfather?
Dr. Ira Gruber is Anna Koester’s dad. Here’s his letter from the NYT yesterday.
As for Dr. Gruber’s US Amateur experience:
Oh, and Dr. Gruber’s Wikipedia entry:
Ira D. Gruber (born January 6, 1934) is an American author, bibliographer, and military historian of the American Revolution.
Personal life Ira D. Gruber was born January 6, 1934, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and grew up in Pottstown, Pennsylvania. He attended Duke University and served in the United States Navy Reserve. From 1955-1957 he held the title of crypto security officer on the USS Wiltsie. [Yes, that is the Wiltsie as in Ron’s grandfather.]
Career Gruber became a professor at Duke after earning his Ph.D. in 1961. He later held the positions of fellow at the Institute of Early American History and Culture, assistant professor of history at Occidental College, and Harris Masterson, Jr. Professor -- and later (from 2009 on) Professor Emeritus -- of History at Rice University. During his long teaching career, Gruber published several works on the theme of American military history, specifically regarding the American Revolution. Books and the British Army in the Age of the American Revolution examines the books read by military officers during the revolution and how these books may have influenced their techniques and decisions. Another book, The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution, discusses the failure of the Howe Brothers to restore the British government in America.
Awards
1974 and 2001 George R. Brown Award for Superior Teaching, Rice University
1998 Edwin H. Simmons Award given by Society for Military History
2013 Samuel Eliot Morison Prize for lifetime achievement given by Society for Military History
Works
Gruber, Ira D. (2010). Books and the British Army in the Age of the American Revolution. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9780807833780. OCLC 676697361.
Gruber, Ira D. (1975). The Howe Brothers and the American Revolution. New York: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 0393007561. OCLC 333567.
Gruber, Ira D. (1998). John Peebles' American war : the diary of a Scottish grenadier, 1776-1782. Mechanicsburg, PA: Stackpole Books. ISBN 0811708810. OCLC 39782957.
Doughty, Robert A.; Gruber, Ira D. (1996). Warfare in the Western World: Military Operations. Lexington: D.C. Heath, cop. ISBN 0669209392. OCLC 469055793.
Moten, Matthew, ed. (2011). "1". Between War and Peace: How America Ends its Wars. New York: Free Press. ISBN 1439194610. OCLC 555638109.
Heller, Charles E.; Stofft, William A., eds. (1986). "1". America's First Battles 1776-1965. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. ISBN 0700602771. OCLC 13425151.
Hagan, Kenneth J.; Roberts, William R., eds. (1986). "2". Against All Enemies: Interpretations of American Military History from Colonial Times to Present. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, Inc. ISBN 0313211973. OCLC 12342367.
One word summarizes my reaction — WOW!