As anyone who has traveled with Stephen Ambrose Historical Tours knows, our historians are, simply put, the best. They are leaders in their field, world-renowned authors, podcast hosts, documentary filmmakers and sought-after experts for articles, movies and TV shows.

But who are they really? To give you an inkling, we thought it would be fun to modify the Proust Questionnaire for our historians. Popularized by Marcel Proust, the French novelist and essayist, this set of questions is said to reveal a person’s true nature.

Today, Gerald J. Prokopowicz, Ph.D., answers our Historians Proust Questionnaire. Gerry leads our Civil War tours: This Hallowed Ground, Mississippi River Campaign and War on the Rivers, Rails and Mountains. He is is a professor at East Carolina University, who specializes in Public History and the Civil War era, and the host of Civil War Talk Radio. He is the author of Did Lincoln Own Slaves? Frequently Asked Questions and Answers about Abraham Lincoln and All for the Regiment: The Army of the Ohio, 1861-1862. He served nine years as the resident Lincoln Scholar at the Lincoln Museum in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he helped create the award-winning exhibit, “Abraham Lincoln and the American Experiment,” and edited Lincoln Lore.

Gerry Prokopowicz Answers Our Historians Proust Questionnaire

What is your idea of perfect happiness on tour?

I’m skeptical that there is such a thing as “perfect happiness.” Having said that, I’m always very pleased on the last evening of a tour when guests express interest in taking another SAHT tour.

What is your greatest fear on tour?

A medical emergency.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue of a historical figure?

Bravery.

What is the quality you most like in a historical figure?

Good handwriting.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse on tour?

As soon as I become aware that I’m overusing a word or phrase, I make a concerted effort to stop, but eventually another one takes its place and the cycle repeats.

When and where were you happiest when on tour?

May 2023, first day of “This Hallowed Ground” in Washington, D.C. I had attended my older daughter’s medical school graduation ceremony that morning in Chapel Hill and was still beaming when I arrived at the opening dinner.

Which talent of a historical figure would you most like to have?

The empathy of Abraham Lincoln.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would be more punctual.

What do you consider your greatest achievement on tour?

Keeping the “plus ones” interested and entertained. For the history enthusiasts who travel, the sites sell themselves. If I can help their companions find the same fascination in a seemingly ordinary farm field that you and I find in the Cornfield at Antietam, I feel like I’ve done something.

If you were to die and come back as a historical figure, who would it be?

That decision would be above my pay grade.

In which period of history would you most like to live?

Today.

What is your most treasured possession?

Probably a still life that father painted when he was a student in Fernand Leger’s studio in the early 1950s. The master looked it over and said “toute est juste.” It was Dad’s proudest moment as an artist.

What is your most marked characteristic as an historian?

You would have to ask my readers.

What do you most value in your guests?

Collegiality.

Who are your favorite writers?

Lincoln, Grant, Bierce, Tolkien, Bruce Catton, Paul Fussell, Melville, David Herbert Donald, Todd McEwen, Richard McMurry, Craig Symonds. If asked again tomorrow I’ll have twelve different names.

Who is your hero of historical fiction?

I don’t read historical fiction.

Which historical figure do you most identify with?

That isn’t something I ordinarily do. It would be presumptuous to claim some common identity with a historical leader who faced challenges on a far greater scale than I, and pointless to name some obscure person from the past whose life was as ordinary as mine.

Who are your heroes in real life?

My parents, my children, and my wife (not necessarily in that order).

What is your motto?

Never had one, so I will borrow from Dr. Seuss. “And this is [my] motto: For best Yekko echoes, try Gekko, our grotto.”