David Nathan McNary (1950/1951 – December 26, 2020) was an American journalist best known for his work at ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

''.

Early life and career

Born the oldest of five children in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

, McNary was raised in

Hillsborough, California Hillsborough is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in San Mateo County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is located south of San Francisco on the San Francisco Peninsula, bordered by Burlinga ...

and

Woodland, California Woodland is a city in and the county seat of Yolo County, California, United States. Located approximately northwest of Sacramento, it is a part of the Sacramento metropolitan area. The population continues to grow every year, with a growth ra ...

before moving to

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

with his family, where he became fluent in Spanish. During his childhood, McNary was involved with the

Boy Scouts Boy Scouts or Boy Scout may refer to: * Members, sections or organisations in the Scouting Movement ** Scout (Scouting), a boy or a girl participating in the worldwide Scouting movement ** Scouting America, formerly known as Boy Scouts of America ...

, and achieved the rank of

Eagle Scout Eagle Scout is the highest rank attainable in the Scouts BSA program of Scouting America. Since its inception in 1911, only four percent of Scouts have earned this rank after a lengthy review process. The Eagle Scout rank has been earned by over ...

, the highest in the program. Back in California, he attended

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

, where he graduated in 1974 with a degree in history, and began writing for the ''

Daily Bruin The ''Daily Bruin'' is the student newspaper at the University of California, Los Angeles. It began publishing in 1919, the year UCLA was founded. The ''Daily Bruin'' distributes about 6,000 copies across campus three times a week. It also publ ...

'' newspaper. Later, he wrote for the ''Yuba City Daily Independent Herald'',

City News Service City News Service, Inc. is a regional news agency covering Southern California. City News Service clients include local and regional newspapers, broadcasters and websites. History The company was founded in 1928 by Marvin Willard and Welland Go ...

, ''

Pasadena Star-News The ''Pasadena Star-News'' is a paid local daily newspaper for the greater Pasadena, California area. The Pasadena ''Star-News'' is a member of Southern California News Group (formerly the Los Angeles Newspaper Group), since 1996. It is also par ...

'', and ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

'', before working primarily on writing for

United Press International United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

. In 1999, McNary became a prominent writer for ''

'', where he worked for the rest of his career until his death in 2020. McNary wrote thousands of articles while working at ''Variety''. He published 2,061 articles in 2017, 1,772 in 2018, 1,326 in 2019, and 1,103 in 2020. In a remembrance column, Cynthia Littleton noted his dedication to writing, and his guidance to interns and new reporters by asking if they needed help and inviting them to film festivals and award ceremonies when possible.

Personal life and death

Married to KPCC correspondent and journalist Sharon McNary for 21 years, McNary himself had four sisters: Nancy McNary Leach, Barbara McNary Spindler, Jane McNary O'Meara, and Patti McNary. On December 19, 2020, McNary was hospitalized in

Pasadena, California Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commerci ...

for a stroke, and died on December 26, aged 69.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McNary, Dave 1950s births 2020 deaths 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American journalists 21st-century American male writers American male journalists Journalists from California University of California, Los Angeles alumni Variety (magazine) people Writers from Berkeley, California