European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - February 21, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                James  America s epic novelist talks about his work by Melissa Sones United press International James Michener is the King of big in the world of popular novels but he did t write his first Book until the age of 40 and swears he never had any burning ambition to be  his 33 books have sold 60 million copies and been translated into 52 languages. His most recent epic Texas runs 1,096 pages. These grand historical narratives Blanket much of the world and often Deal in Mullen a. Texas a relative Piker spans 500 years in he history of the state. Thousands of years in the history of Israel Are covered in the source millions in Hawaii and one billion years of Alaska in his upcoming and possibly last Book. Yet for a Man whose work is so deeply rooted in fact the private life of Michener who turned 79 this month is equally rooted in mysteries and contradictions that Start with his Early childhood. Although he knows he was raised by Mabel Michener in Doylestown. A he claims not to know and not to be curious about whether she was his natural Mother. When pressed he responds As he does to Many key questions with a characteristic blend of pragmatism Quirky humility and emotional distance. It s very obscure he says. We really Don t know what the facts Are. I was never legally adopted. All i know is when you re in that situation two ugly moments come later in life. When you want to get a passport and you have no documentation of any kind and when you re drafted into the  he has married three times and says he regrets that he never had children of his own due to a Case of childhood mumps that left him sterile. But the two amerasian boys he adopted with his second wife were both eventually returned to the Agency from which they came. The Story Michener tells is that one child was Given Back to Welcome House the Agency run by the late author Pearl Buck before the adoption was final because the couple had too Many responsibilities and Felt they d made a mistake. The other child was returned by his sex wife after his marriage to his third and current wife Marl. Buck contacted Marl and Michener to see whether they would take the boy. Though Michener insists he was willing he says Marl feared difficulties with the second wife. I think i was in Asia he says. I m pretty sure i was and my wife had never seen the child she did not know anything about the child. Although i was perfectly willing to live up to my offer to take the child it was decided thai the Agency would take the child  John Kinas his right hand Man says he never allowed his publisher random House to throw him a party until Texas. The gala attended by the likes of Peter Jennings and Tom Brokaw real estate and publishing Kingpin Mortimer Zucker Nan and feminist Gloria Steinem was the doing of his wife and Kings. He occasionally gives in to a social activity like the parly or a slight luxury because As he puts it a wife 6hlsnali office at the University of Texas in Austin matches his very modest Brick ranch House in a Middle class neighbourhood. This is a Man who has visited nearly every country in the world except outer Mongolia and a few South american nations he save _ and lived in  wants to be taken for average. Over breakfast at his Manhattan hotel when informed the Kitchen is out of baked apples he believes this happens because he s just an average  count on him to order the most popular item on the menu he says. Life James Michener wrote hit first Book at 40. The quintessential Michener myth features armies of research assistants. At this very moment the myth goes 400 of them Are probably tracking the outer regions of Alaska for information on Salmon and Oil. Not Only do they research they probably write the books the myth says. Actually there Are no editorial armies. Michener employs a Small devoted staff generally two secretaries and a research assistant or two. Right now one Secretary is at the University of Texas and the other is helping research the Alaska Book which Michener started 18 months ago in Sitka Alaska. Texas was his biggest editorial operation. It involved Kings Mtchener s key assistant whom he met while researching Centennial an administrative assistant. Lisa Kaufman and two research assistants. Judging from Michener aversion to personal grandness it makes sense that he uses two fingers on an old Hermes manual typewriter in the study of his Home furnished with a Brown wooden desk bought Useda dilapidated file Cabinet and an antique encyclopedia Brit Anica  acquired a word processor while writing Texas but in his fashion did it by Accident and acquaintance. Michener accidentally met the president of digital Friday february 21, 1986 equipment corp., who sent him one. When Michener writes a Book he lives in Hal area for the duration of the project. For Texas he moved to Austin in 1982. He remained after the Book was finished in 1985 because he says Winters Are Milder than those in Pennsylvania where he grew up and until last year kept a Home. In addition the University offered him an office use of a Library a secretarial staff and a housing allowance. He will spend his Summers in Alaska until the new Book is Complete in 1987. Michener spends a year contemplating a Book before beginning in Earnest then outlines the chapters giving each a three sentence description. He works in blocks of 150 pages about a chapter and writes from 7 30 . To 12 30 p.m., seven Days a week. Never in the afternoon he says a time reserved for rest Long walks and Reading. Texas began with a casual exploratory phase. Michener crisscrossed the state logging thousands of Miles in three to five Day chunks. I came Down in a used station Wagon drove the length of Texas he says. John was with me part of the time. Then after that we drove thousands of Miles to Brownsville to Elpaso up to Amarillo. Up to the  As blocks of the Book were finished Michener gave them to his stall Lor comment which they copiously provided. Jim would write a lot in a White heal says Kaufman now an assistant editor at random House. He would use the same adjective 20 times because he wanted to get a Broad View first and he intended to go Back Over  Michener says he will insert an a where he intends to fill in something and May put it on hold for As Long As a year. Staff members grew accustomed to his Way of working. Each had a specially but everyone was free to comment on style Content character and plausibility. Michener acknowledges he has a formula the spinning of a Long yarn backed up by heavy research but adds Arthur Conan Doyle had a formula  what irks him he says Are the Many aspiring writers who Contact him wanting to know what the gimmick  the gimmick he says is hard work and discipline. Write a Story 50 times until you get it right. Like All of his novels Texas was heavily rewritten As Many As five or six times per chapter. Talent is common Michener loves to say. Disciplined Talent is not so  Michener disciplines himself with the Aid of Kings and Marl his wife of 31 years with whom he maintains his closest relationships. They re a powerful pair says Michener half in jest. Mari 65, is japanese a graduate of Antioch College and a Veteran of the . Western states internment Camps into which japanese americans were forced during world War ii. She met Michener while working As a librarian in Chicago where he was researching an article for Lite Magazine on japanese War brides. They were married in 1955, and to this Day still Call each other  her boldness is in Sharp contrast to Mtchener s quiet acquiescence. She is the one who interrupts to say it is time for Michener to take his Nap sign papers or Call the dentist. My Job she says is to make sure he is around for a Long Long  she also takes care of the couple s finances including acquisition of the their Art collections $5 million Worth of 20th-Century american works and another group of japanese prints. I Haven t been inside a Bank in 10  Michener says. Kings a former rancher and Reader s digest editor continued on Page 14 the stars and stripes Page 13