Michener, James Albert

▪ 1998

      American novelist (b. Feb. 3, 1907, New York, N.Y.—d. Oct. 16, 1997, Austin, Texas), launched a 50-year literary career with Tales of the South Pacific (1947), a book that won the 1948 Pulitzer Prize for literature. It was later adapted for Broadway and became the Rodgers and Hammerstein hit South Pacific (1949), and in 1958 it became a motion picture of the same title. Michener's ability to weave epic fictional narratives of people and places with a touch of history placed him atop best-seller lists and in 1992 made him one of eight authors who had produced six or more number one best-sellers. It was not until after the 1959 publication of Hawaii, however, that his work became a common fixture on American bookshelves. His nomadic lifestyle carried him around the globe, and his temporary addresses served as titles for many of his more than 20 books, among them Iberia (1968), Chesapeake (1978), Poland (1983), and Mexico (1992). Michener also explored such topics as sports, Japanese prints, politics, archaeology, and the sonnet. Abandoned at birth, he was raised in an adoptive Quaker home in Doylestown, Pa., and never discovered his origins. Michener spent the largest part of his last two decades in Austin, Texas, where he wrote Texas (1985), his longest novel (1,096 pages). Over the years he donated more than $100 million to schools and charities and became the single-largest benefactor of the University of Texas, with gifts topping $37 million.

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