SOURCE: "James Michener, 90, Pulitzer-Prize Winning Author," in The New York Times, October 17, 1997, p. B8.

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

James A. Michener, who survived a Dickensian childhood to win the Pulitzer Prize with his very first book, published when he was about 40, and then became one of America's favorite storytellers with grand-scale novels like Hawaii, The Source and Texas, died in his home in Austin, Texas, on Thursday. He was about 90.

Michener chose to discontinue life-saving kidney dialysis treatment earlier this month and died of complications following renal failure, according to John Kings, a longtime friend and assistant of Michener's.

"He felt he had accomplished what he wanted to accomplish in terms of his life's work," Kings said. "He did not want to suffer a long series of complications."

Michener's entry in Who's Who in America...