As Harrison Salisbury wrote in the Chicago Tribune, "James Michener is as much an American institution as the Fourth of July or apple pie." Michener wrote short stories, essays, poems, and art histories, but he was best known as the author of lengthy...

James Michener has published nearly a dozen volumes of fiction, but such is his versatility that he has published more than an equal number of volumes of nonfiction, and more than one hundred articles in periodicals. He does, however, think of himself...

James Michener (1907-1997) is best known for his many epic historical novels, which have sold an estimated 75 million copies worldwide. He was also a noted philanthropist, having contributed more than $100 million to universities, libraries, museums,...

With the passing of James Michener in 1997, America lost one of the most prolific American novelists and outstanding philanthropists of the twentieth century. In his popular, although often lengthy books—spanning 50 years of almost continuous...

James Albert Michener (February 3, 1907 - October 16, 1997) was an American author of more than 40 titles, the majority of which are novels of sweeping sagas, covering the lives of many generations in a particular geographic locale and incorporating...

HE SOLD 75 million copies of his books, he gave away in excess of $100 million in philanthropy to colleges and writing programs, and, as if that weren't enough, James Michener had the innate kindliness and grace to observe -- in an autobiographical essay...

PILGRIMAGE A Memoir of Poland and Rome By James A. Michener Rodale Press. 119 pp. $14.95 Here's a rarity: a thin book by a master of thick ones. With all the expected authorial graces, plus a storyteller's instinct for the...

Actress Miyoshi Umeki, who won an Oscar for her performance as the doomed wife of an American serviceman in "Sayonara" and later starred in the Broadway musical "Flower Drum Song," has died of cancer. She was 78.The Japanese-born actress, the first Asian performer to win...

Effi BarryWASHINGTON (AP) _ Effi Barry, the District of Columbia's stoic former first lady who endured her husband's drug abuse and unfaithfulness during his years as the city's mayor, died Thursday. She was 63.Barry died of leukemia at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis, Md.,...

[In the following obituary, Krebs discusses Michener's work and comments on his expert documentation and narrative ability.]

[In the following obituary, Simon discusses Michener's amazing success and popularity with his readers, despite the criticism of reviewers.]

[In the following obituary, Omicinski lauds Michener's life and works.]