James Michener: World Famous Author

James Michener grew up in Doylestown and graduated from the public school that once stood here in nineteen twenty-five, a top-ranking student from modest beginnings. His debut novel, Tales of the South Pacific, earned him the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in nineteen forty-eight and was later adapted into the beloved musical South Pacific. Michener went on to write sprawling, research-intensive epics set across the globe, from Hawaii in nineteen fifty-nine to The Source in nineteen sixty-five.

He traveled to nearly every place he wrote about, and he gave generously, becoming a major art collector and philanthropist. His career spanned more than four decades and produced some of the most widely read works of the twentieth century.