David Marcou

Degree(s): BJ '84

What do you do?

I’ve been a freelance author, photojournalist, & editor ca. 50 years, plus a journalism staffer & a college extended education teacher. I create, publish, donate (including to Smithsonian), display & sell, my documentary/art works. I’ve authored 415+ book-titles so far, including 330+ volumes in my award-winning “Spirit of America” book-series. My recent book-titles include books of photos by me taken in Britain and South Korea; a book of photos I took of Danica Patrick as National Press Club main speaker, 2-21-12; biographies of Bert Hardy, James Cameron, and John H. Whale, whom I met and interviewed/worked with in 1981’s Missouri-London Reporting Program as a London Sunday Times reporting intern (also, my best photo-portrait of Bert Hardy & his dogs Lizzie & Kim has long been in the Photos Collection of the Brit National Portrait Gallery, NPGx126230) ; Spirit of America, Vol. 90: Tiger Spirit (a book of photos taken by me in Missouri in two+ decades); SA98: Wonderment, or Alive at 205? (a book of photos I took in-studio of PBS NewsHour staff, featuring Mizzou alum Jim Lehrer’s unofficial retirement photo-portraits by me & photos by me of Judy Woodruff, et. al.; the title is based on a comic story Jim told me about Mizzou’s Dean English; SA108: Remembering Merle Haggard (a book of photos I took at a 2013 Merle Haggard and Strangers concert in Wis.); SA109: Courage and Light Writing (a book of photos I took of a Mass of Thanksgiving then-new Crd. Ray Burke presided at in his native La Crosse Diocese at La Crosse’s St. Joseph the Workman Cathedral); SA116: Mom and Dad’s 60th Valentine Anniversary Party 2010 (photos taken by me of my parents’ & immediate family at that gathering); and SA118: Rev. Jesse Jackson at UW-LaX 3-29-11 (photos by me of Jesse Jackson speech, etc.); SA119: To Sir and Lady with Love–Excerpts from My British Memoir, and My Personal History of Photography; & SA300: A Golden Age of America? My photos of presidential campaigns (no fewer than 6 eventual presidents photographed by me); writings about photographing & corresponding with St. Mother Teresa b/c I met & photographed her 1-27-85 in Anyang, S. Korea); & my photos of Viterbo U. Holocaust Survivor Guest Speakers, especially Elie Wiesel (Nobel Peace Laureate & founding chair of USHMM) & Eva Schloss (Ann Frank’s step-sister). Also, I did a re-issue of American Eyes, 5th Ed. (i.e., SA228) with my son, Matt, & with an Introduction by Jon Tarrant (former editor of British Journal of Photography). I continue to be 1 of the world’s most-prolific living book author-photographers. In recent years, an Irish fire medic/county administrator/photographer/family patriarch, Paul Curran, has also creatively contributed photos by him & his family & some of his writings to the SA book-series too. We’ve collaborated on 2 volumes of world photo history as well, e.g., SA171 & SA176, etc. And I’ve researched, written, & revised for WI newspapers & my SA book-series, long reports about the 15+mysterious riverdeaths at La Crosse, WI, 1997-2025, plus many groundbreaking books. I’ve also written extensively about suspicious deaths of the 1960s, including assassinations of JFK, LH Oswald, MLKJr., RFK, & Marilyn Monroe. And my “Remembering Davy Crockett” play in 2012 was nominated for a Pulitzer the next January. Plus in recent years my playscript “Bloody Math: An American Tragedy in Three Acts” was donated by me to the UW-Mdsn Archives, covering the anti-war bombing of UW-Mdsn’s Sterling Hall (Aug. 1970), which killed 1 young physics researcher who happened to be a peacenik ironically, Rbt. Fassnacht. I lived in Madison & attended UW-Mdsn 1968-80. And I’d known some of the characters in my play. Also, my sequel to Sean O’Casey’s “Juno & the Paycock”, “Song of Joy–Or the Old Reliables; & 2 OJ’s” was produced in 2 different partial productions in 2008, & is being considered for full production in Ireland at present (2025-2026).

How did you get your job?

Journalism school professors Daryl Moen & Won Ho Chang helped me find my first full-time news job, as lead English-language copy editor for South Korea’s Yonhap National News Agency, starting in Aug. 1984.

What is the best professional lesson you learned at the J-School?

Taking each day 1 step at a time; being open-minded, curious, ethical, & focused on people & works I love. Also, not everyone earns big money/fame soon after graduation. I’ve not so far had personal income of more than $15,000 annually; but my sponsors continue to be generous, including family & friends. What advice do you have for current students? Be patient, yet persistent, have a good sense of humor, know the rules (even if in good conscience you need to break some; Family of Man Curator/MOMA Photo Dept. Director and World-Famous Photographer Edward Steichen broke some key design rules when he was a boy), and improvise adeptly, to achieve your goals. It also helps to have good family, friends and other readers to share your positive works with. Prayer and serendipity don’t hurt either. What is your favorite J-School memory? I have a few from my years at Mizzou. I did a Missourian photo-story for Prof. Veita Jo Hampton’s class in 1980 on a five-year-old boy born with spina bifida & great spirit & sense of humor. And Profs. Kennedy & Morgan convinced me to take chances once in a while. Prof. George Kennedy, when I was almost ready to travel to London for the Sunday Times internship program, that professor asked me to cover a severe wind/rain storm in Columbia; though shy about it due to wanting to prepare for London near take-off time, I did cover that storm, & my story was titled “It Wasn’t Business As Usual”. Prof. Ernie Morgan said a couple weeks’ earlier, when I told him my grades were poor and maybe I shouldn’t go to London, “you’ll regret it, David, the rest of your life, if you don’t go to London now”. Ernie Morgan also wrote to me about my Missourian London report edited by John H. Whale that autumn semester, in which I covered a tense 1981 meeting between Britain’s Cardinal Basil Hume and 50 IRA relatives at Westminster Catholic Cathedral in London: “The story is good. Good writing.” In addition, my parents attended my J-School graduation in Columbia in May 1984, a great event. Additional Comments Mizzou was the first school my parents and I attended 1 of my three university graduations; we hadn’t been to the previous graduations. Held outdoors, I’ve been told I chain-smoked during it. I quit smoking permanently in 1989 when I returned to Columbia, Mo., to work in a news mail-room. We lived in Columbia ca. six months then, when my son Matthew was two. Matt now has a very successful career as an electrical engineer, after his military service & his graduation MCL from a Philadelphia university. He and his partner live & work in north-eastern Illinois. While working full-time in EE in Illinois, Matt graduated from Johns Hopkins U’s Online MS Program in Electrical Engineering & Computer Sciences in Dec. 2023.

What advice do you have for current students?

Be patient, yet persistent, have a good sense of humor, know the rules (even if in good conscience you need to break some; Family of Man Curator/MOMA Photo Dept. Director & World-Famous Photographer Edward Steichen broke some key design rules when he was a boy), & improvise adeptly, to achieve your goals. It also helps to have good family, friends & other readers to share your positive works with. Prayers & serendipity don’t hurt either.

What is your favorite J-School memory?

I have several favorite memories from my Mizzou years. but I did a Missourian Weekly photo-essay for Prof. Veita Jo Hampton’s class in 1980 on a 5-year-old boy born with spina bifida & great spirit & sense of humor. And Profs. George Kennedy & Ernie Morgan convinced me to take shrewd chances once in a while. When I was almost ready to travel to London for the Sunday Times internship program in Aug. 1981, Prof. Kennedy asked me to cover a severe wind/rain storm in Columbia; though shy about it due to wanting to prepare for London near take-off time, I did cover that storm, & my story was titled “It Wasn’t Business As Usual”. Prof. Morgan had said a couple weeks’ earlier, when I told him my grades were poor & maybe I shouldn’t go to London, “you’ll regret it, David, the rest of your life, if you don’t go to London now”. Ernie Morgan also wrote to me about my Missourian London report edited by LST’s John H. Whale that autumn semester, in which I covered a tense 1981 meeting between Britain’s Cardinal Basil Hume & 50 IRA relatives at Westminster Catholic Cathedral in London. That meeting occurred not long after the self-imposed starvation death of IRA militant Bobby Sands in N. Ireland’s Maze Prison: “The story is good. Good writing.” In addition, my parents attended my J-School graduation in Columbia in May 1984, a great event.

Additional Comments

Tho I’d earned a BA in History from UW-Mdsn & an MA in Amer. Studies from UIowa, Mizzou’s MA program wasn’t easy for me to navigate. I eventually dropped back to the BJ program for my Mizzou degree, b/c I’d split my time between journalism writing & journalism photography in Columbia & in 1 of its off-campus programs. Mizzou tho was the first school my parents & I attended 1 of my 3 university graduations from; we hadn’t been to my previous 2 univ. graduations. Held outdoors, I’ve been told I chain-smoked during it. I quit smoking permanently in 1989 when my then-wife & our son & I returned to Columbia, Mo., for me to work in a newspaper mail-room. We lived in Columbia ca. six months then, when my son MAM was 2 y-o. I am currently divorced in WI & my son MAM is a working husband in another state.