Michener, James A(lbert)(1907– ) New York‐Born Novelist

Michener, James A[lbert](1907– ) New York‐Born Novelist, after graduation from Swarthmore (1929), study at Colorado State College, teaching of social sciences, and work as a book editor, was led into literature by his naval experiences in World War II. His 18 related sketches, Tales of the South Pacific (1947, Pulitzer Prize), were adapted by Rodgers and Hammerstein as a musical comedy, South Pacific (1949). The Fires of Spring (1949) is a more conventional novel, concerning a boy's growth to maturity during the 1920s and the Depression. After Return to Paradise (1951), which dealt with the scene of his first work in a mingling of fact and fiction, and The Voice of Asia (1951), a study of the contemporary Orient, he wrote the novels The Bridges at Toko‐ri (1953) and Sayonara (1954), using the Korean war as background, the latter emphasizing Japanese and American good relations through its love story. Hawaii (1959) is a panoramic novel of the fiftieth state's social history; Caravans (1963) is a novel about a romantic American girl in Afghanistan; The Source (1965) is a novel about the Holy Land, ancient and modern. The Drifters (1971), a contemporary tale, depicting six young people of various nations, all wandering the world in search of their diverse conception of the good life, was followed by further lengthy novels: Centennial (1974), presenting life in Colorado from prehistory through 200 years of life, Indian and white, concentrating on the last century: Chesapeake (1978), a chronicle of 400 years of life on Maryland's Eastern Shore, some of which was excerpted in The Watermen (1979); The Covenant (1980), a sweeping historical novel about South Africa from earliest days to the present; Space (1982), about U.S. astronauts involved in a flight to the dark side of the moon; Poland (1983), fiction about a nation's history; and Texas (1985), Alaska (1988), and Caribbean (1989), long novels that elicit the history and events of the titular place. Rather different are Legacy (1987), a short novel celebrating the Constitution of the U.S., and Recessional (1994), set in a Florida retirement community, about the challenges and rewards faced by older adults and their families. The Eagle and the Raven (1990) celebrates the friendship of Andrew Jackson and Sam Houston; recent nonfiction are Pilgrimage: A Memoir of Poland and Rome (1990) and The World Is My Home: A Memoir (1992).

The Floating World (1954) is a study of an art form continued in Japanese Prints (1959). The Bridge at Andau (1957) is a documentary account of the Hungarian revolt against the Communists in 1956. Report of the County Chairman (1961) treats his experiences as chairman of the Bucks County, Pennsylvania, Citizens for Kennedy; and other nonfictional writings include Iberia (1968), presenting experiences and reflections on Spanish travels; Presidential Lottery: The Reckless Gamble in Our Electoral System (1969); The Quality of Life (1970); Kent State: What Happened and Why (1971), treating the demonstration on the Ohio university campus that ended with the shooting of four students by the National Guard; and Sports in America (1976). With A. Grove Day he wrote Rascals in Paradise (1957), sketches of colorful characters in the Pacific.