Gary was born July 27, 1933, in Philadelphia and attended Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Pa. At Princeton he majored in history, joined Quadrangle Club, and played varsity squash. He was also noted for frequent visits to the Annex and an ability to stack a pyramid of empty beer cans to the ceiling of his dorm room. Gary’s nickname was Crash Nash.
After earning a Ph.D. and teaching history at Princeton, he moved to UCLA and became a leader of what became known as New Left history. One of his significant books was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize and focused on how Native Americans, working-class whites, and free and enslaved Black people were engines of change for the American Revolution.
Gary is survived by his wife, Cindy Shelton; son David; daughters Brooke Nash, Robin Johnson, and Jennifer Nash Durante; nine grandchildren; and brother Ralph ’53.