James Michener was born to tell stories. He was one of the most popular and best-selling American novelists of all time… able to merge equal parts fiction, history, geography and culture into a perfect, page-turning blend. Here, he tells his own dramatic and mysterious life story, and he describes his very first venture into writing fiction, when he was stationed on an island in the Pacific during World War II. The book that came of that experience was "Tales of the South Pacific," which earned him a Pulitzer, and later became the Broadway hit and movie: “South Pacific.” Michener also describes what he calls some of the “differential experiences” in his life, like the very moment he decided he would live his life as if he were a great man. And he extols all of us to look out for unexpected opportunities and grab them. This episode originally posted in November of 2015.
(c ) American Academy of Achievement 2015-2021
