Columnist Bruce Kauffmann dies at age 72

Bruce Kauffmann was a rabid history buff who read voraciously, but rarely touched fiction.
His reasoning? The stories of presidents and prime ministers, social movements, legislative jousting, cataclysmic battles, and landmark moments in sports and culture were packed with more drama and excitement than anything you could find in even the most gripping novel.
According to Kauffmann’s daughter, Remy Kauffmann, the columnist who created “Bruce’s History Lessons” maintained that “even the most imaginative Hollywood screenwriter wouldn’t be able to make up stories as crazy and unbelievable as the stuff that actually happened in history.”
For almost 20 years, Kauffmann rigorously created a “history lesson” each week that educated and entertained readers of the Observer-Reporter and other newspapers. He continued writing the columns until he died July 18 at his home in Alexandria, Va., after a brief battle with cancer. Kauffmann was 72.
A scion of the family that owned the now-defunct Washington Star newspaper in the nation’s capital, writing came naturally to Kauffmann. An English major at the University of Virginia, history was a hobby. Employed during the day as the editorial director and director of communications for the American Gas Association in Washington, D.C., Kauffmann decided to try his hand at “Bruce’s History Lessons” in 2001.
“He had always loved history and writing, but more than that, he really liked finding a quirky fact about something that no one knew about, including him,” Remy Kauffmann said. “He started the column because he wanted to find an entertaining and concise way to get people as interested in history as he was.”
Twenty-five newspapers ended up using Kauffmann’s column at the peak of its popularity. He kept a list of historical events for every week of the year, and then researched them, sometimes reading a book or seeking out a podcast. Britain’s Winston Churchill fascinated Kauffmann, as did the U.S. Constitution, the Founding Fathers, both world wars and the University of Virginia.
Kauffmann was also a motorcycle enthusiast, “and was riding his Harley Road King until he became too weak from the chemo,” Remy Kauffmann said. A pool enthusiast, he would play at least once a week in bars around the D.C. area, and became known to the bouncers and bartenders at these establishments.
Aside from his daughter, Kauffmann is survived by another daughter, Joanna Kauffmann; his wife, Judith Harmatz; two brothers, and two sisters.
Kauffmann wrote a sufficient number of columns that “Bruce’s History Lessons” will carry on through the end of August.