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James Michener

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Author

The Resume

    (February 3, 1907-October 16, 1997)
    Born in New York City, New York
    Wrote 'Tales of the South Pacific' (1948), 'The Bridges at Toko-Ri' (1953), 'Sayanora' (1954), 'Hawaii' (1959), 'The Source' (1965), 'Centennial' (1974), 'Chesapeake' (1978), 'The Covenant' (1980), 'Space' (1982), 'Poland' (1983), 'Texas' (1985), 'Legacy' (1987), 'Alaska' (1988), 'Caribbean' (1989), 'Mexico' (1992) and 'Recessional' (1994)
    Wrote the autobiography 'The World Is My Home'

Why he might be annoying:

    He hitchhiked alone across the US as a young teen.
    His Pulitzer Prize win for 'Tales of the South Pacific' was controversial because many critics considered the book a collection of short stories rather than a novel.
    Michener noted, 'There were editorials that declared it was the least-deserving book in recent years to win the Pulitzer.'
    He and his second wife adopted two boys, but sent them back to the orphanage when their marriage broke up.
    In writing 'Covenant,' he submitted work written by researcher Errol Uys as his own, which biographer Stephen May called 'a scarlet literary crime.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    He was abandoned shortly after birth and noted, 'I might be part Negro, might be part Jew, part Muslim, part Irish. So I can't afford to be supercilious about any group of people, because I may be that people.'
    After royalties from the musical 'South Pacific' freed him financially to write full-time, he quipped 'I have only one bit of advice to the beginning writer - be sure your first novel is read by Rodgers and Hammerstein.'
    Over his lifetime, he gave $100 million to charity.
    He said, 'I think it's remarkable that a man could write the stuff I do - lengthy, intricate, not dependent on sex or violence - and acquire the readership I have.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 21 Votes: 47.62% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 6 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 16 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 8 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 17 Votes: 41.18% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 23 Votes: 47.83% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 24 Votes: 45.83% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 32 Votes: 34.38% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 68 Votes: 35.29% Annoying