JAMES MICHENER

Celebrated Author

James A. Michener was something of a problem child. Although he was an A student, he was suspended form every school he attended. He also ran away from home frequently, not because he didn't like it, but he seemed to always need to see what else was out there, and have new experiences.

Perhaps it was because he never knew his parents. Michener was born in New York City on February 3, 1907. He was raised by Mabel Michener, never knowing his biological background. Most of his childhood was spent in Doylestown, PA, in the care of a loving woman who took in needy children. Michener won a scholarship to Swarthmore College, graduating with honors, and then went to The University of St. Andrew's in Scotland. He took a number of teaching jobs at the college level, and then a job as an editor at a New York publishing firm. When World War II began, he joined the Navy.

The Navy provided Michener with his new career, because his novel Tales of the South Pacific was based on his experiences in the Pacific during the war. Although it was his first book, it won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 and was made into a long-running Broadway play, and later would become a movie.

He soon moved for a time to Honolulu, Hawaii, an experience which he would use to write his next novel, Hawaii. It, too, became a best seller, and was the first of his lengthy, multi-generational historical novels for which he became known. Michener continued this process of studying the subjects and culture involved in what was to become a new book. Though still living in Bucks County, PA, he traveled extensively, much of it in preparation for his writing. Some of his most widely known books are The Bridges at Toko-Ri, Centennial, Chesapeake, and Space.

Michener has also been involved in public service areas, such as serving as Secretary to the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention in 1968, and on several national advisory boards. He has also given millions of dollars to colleges, art museums, and libraries. He died on October 16, 1997.