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We are never prepared
for what we expect.
~James Michener~

James Albert Michener was a teacher, graduate student, textbook editor at Macmillan, and lieutenant commander in the U.S. Navy before he became a well-known novelist. Some of his books have been published in every language. He mostly wrote travel books about his adventures around the world. He was very adventurous. He started traveling across the United States in his teens by hitchhiking. There were only three states that he had not visited by the time he was twenty.

Michener was born in New York City on February 3, 1907.  Abandoned by his parents at birth, he became an orphan. He was adopted by a poor young widow named Mabel Michener who had two other young children. The family lived in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. There were rumors that Mabel Michener was James Michener's biological mother, but those were never proven. Michener grew up very poor, often his family had nothing to eat. He wore hand-me-down clothes and very worn shoes. He was teased by many at school because of what he wore. But he wasn't unhappy. Michener loved Mabel very much. He was very grateful to her, and he admired her principles and the way she lived. He was raised as a Quaker in Bucks County. Michener said, "I grew up in a bundle of love, always seven or eight kids around. Great yakkity-yakking and laughter all the time. I grew up maybe the best way a kid could if he wanted to be a writer, just surrounded by excitement."

When Michener was in high school, he participated in basketball and baseball. He led his team to many victories and a championship season. As a result of his success in sports, his classmates overlooked his clothes and the fact that his family had no money. He became accepted. Michener graduated from Doylestown High School in 1925 and earned a scholarship to Swarthmore College.

Michener started hitchhiking across the United States. Sometimes he had a buddy with him, but mostly he was alone. Michener wrote in his autobiography, "Those were years of wonder and enchantment....some of the best years I would know.  I kept meeting American citizens of all levels who took me into their cars, their confidence and often their homes." This was the beginning of Michener's curiosity about people, culture, and different countries.

Michener graduated from Swarthmore College with the highest honors. He then went to school in Scotland at St. Andrew's University. He taught at the George School in Pennsylvania and Colorado State Teacher's College, and Michener served as Assistant Visiting Professor of History, at Harvard University. He became a textbook editor for Macmillan, but that job was put on hold when he joined the Navy. While he was serving in the Navy, he became familiar with many areas around the Pacific Ocean. Michener sent his first book Tales of the South Pacific anonymously to Macmillan, his former employer. It was published in 1947, and won a Pulitzer Prize. Michener gained back his job as textbook editor, and the stories were used in the musical play South Pacific. The play ran for many seasons on Broadway.

Politics were also an interest for Michener. He helped campaign for John F. Kennedy in 1960. 

Michener wrote about all the places he visited that emotionally affected him. He took notes, and learned everything he could about people from all different cultures. He told stories of many cultures, people's lives and experiences, and historical things that happened all over the world. He used fictional characters to tell about historical events. Michener wrote over forty books, including the ever popular book, Hawaii, which was later made into a movie.

Michener was a very humble man. He did not like to talk about his achievements. He was very modest, even with money. He spent very little on himself throughout his life. He bought a small house, and furnished it with only necessities. He didn't even buy shaving cream, because he realized he could just use saved shreds from his soap. He was a very caring man. He gave generously to important causes.  It is estimated that during his lifetime, Michener donated over $100 million dollars to universities, museums, libraries, and other charitable causes. Because of Michener's love for art, they named an art museum in Doylestown, Pennsylvania after him.  He was given the Medal of Freedom for his generous donations of money to universities and art museums.

In 1982, Michener went to Virginia to visit Governor Bill Clements. The governor was talking to Michener about his future, and he convinced Michener to move to Austin, so he could write a book about Texas. Michener was welcomed to the University of Texas, and given a couple of students to help him research.  The university made him a professor. The faculty and students at the University of Texas loved him. President William H. Cunningham gave him Presidential Citation, the University's highest honor.

Michener was married to Mari Yoriko Sabusawa, a second-generation Japanese American, who died in 1994. Michener died in his Austin, Texas home on Thursday October 16, 1997 at the age of ninety. He had struggled for a long time with kidney disease. Dr. Cunningham , president of University of  Texas, described Michener as "not only a preeminent author," but also as "a profound and ardent spokesman for the liberal arts and for liberal education." He said, Jim Michener had "a vast yearning to leave the world a better place than he found it." And that's exactly what James Albert Michener did.

It heartens me to think of Verdi who
composed thundering operas in his
eighties; Michelangelo who did fine
work in his ninetieth year, and Titian,
who painted better than ever
in his one hundredth year.
~James Michener~

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