James Michener


James Michener by George H. Rothacker - acrylic on canvas -  24" x 24" - Original painting $2400, prints @$90 each plus tax and shipping (Prints are an edition of 50, signed, titled and numbered with an image area of 13"x 13").
I am one of many of my generation who came upon James Michener in their early teens through the writing in the epic book Hawaii. The voyage of the missionaries to the island and their fecundity during the crossing over was titillating, as were the passages of the unabashed dancing of the Hawaiian native girls, and the description of first bloom of beauty of women after contracting leprosy followed by the quick physical deterioration from the disease.
I never read Michener’s Pulitzer Prize winning first collection of stories, Tales of the South Pacific, but I appeared onstage as one of the sailors in a local version of the Rogers and Hammerstein musical, South Pacific, that was based on Michener's experiences in the Coral Sea and on the Solomon Islands during World War II. I did read The Source, but missed the authors other 24 novels and 16 non-fiction books.
Michener is known for the vast research he undertook for every book as much he is was for his prodigious output. For many critics, Michener was too popular to be considered literary; he wrote for the masses, but in doing so he helped educate generations on subjects ranging from the origins of the universe to the history of Poland
.
For us who live in southeastern Pennsylvania, Michener is a “favorite son.” He was raised in Doylestown and graduate summa cum laude from Swarthmore College. He was a philanthropist who donated more than $100 million to educational and writing institutions including Swarthmore College, the University of Texas at Austin, and the Iowa Writers Workshop.
He was also an art collector and his typewriter and other tools of his craft are on displayed along with his personal art collection in the Michener Art Museum in Doylestown.

James Michener


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