Author of NYTimes Bestseller Columbine
May 4, 2027
GLAAD Media Award
Best Online Story
of the Year
My Story
I wrote the New York Times bestsellers Columbine and Parkland. My nonfiction gay soldiers book finally arrives May 4, 2027, more than 25 years in the making. (Concurrently with the others.) It’s the biggest project I’ll undertake in my life.
I had to write this story because I'm gay and served as an infantry grunt, but not at the same time. It was unthinkable to be gay then, so I refused to think it. My protagonists did the same. Don't Fall in Love: The Secret Lives of Two Gay Soldiers Hiding in Plain Sight is the tumultuous true story of two active duty combat arms buddies fighting for love and happiness against all odds.
Columbine won several major awards, including the Edgar, the Goodreads Choice Award, and the Barnes & Noble Discover Award, and made 24 Best Books of 2009 lists. It landed on the LA Times' list of the 30 best nonfiction books of the last 30 years, and Slate's list of the best nonfiction books of the last quarter century. It has been translated into nine languages, named to dozens of All Time Best True Crime lists, and universally acclaimed as the definitive account.
I've written for the New York Times, Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, London Times, Politico, The Guardian, Washington Post, The New Republic, BuzzFeed, etc., and appeared on most of the major networks in the US, and across Europe, Asia, Australia and South America. I've also worked on several TV projects, written a pilot for NBCUniversal, earned my WGA card, and completed the WGA Staff Writer Bootcamp. I live in Chicago, where I'm uncle to 11 cool humans and 1 adorable corgi, Bobby Sneakers.
Photo by Anne Ryan. Free license to use.
Be Notified
Email subject line 'NOTIFY' to dave@davecullen.com
I'll email when Don't Fall In Love is published. I never share addresses, and won't spam you.
TV
Dave has been a frequent analyst about Columbine, Parkland, school shootings, gays and soldiers on Today, NBC Nightly News, PBS Newshour, Nightline, Morning Edition, CBS This Morning, CBS Sunday Morning, CBSN, Anderson Cooper 360, Rachel Maddow, All In With Chris Hayes, Katie, Talk of the Nation, Hannity, and numerous documentaries including CNN, NatGeo, Showtime and The Nineties.
Highlights
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Deadline White House: "Those kids, they're my new heroes." Feb 2018
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CNN with Brooke Baldwin: I challenge Hillary to the 22-day Pushup Challenge. Sep 2016
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Anderson Cooper: "We don't do anything." Parkland attack. Feb 2018. (Scroll to minute 10:50.)
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CBSN: “America ‘did nothing’ until Parkland.” Columbine 20th Anniversary. Apr 2019
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CBS: Little kids at Uvalde: “I couldn’t turn it on.” May 2022
