European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 27, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Michener out with a Mexico after a life Long journey by Dana Kennedy the associated press a / Quot a Quot pm a storyteller a says James Michyn a a i or seated in a chair by the window a i Glass of water in his hand and a Cane to his left. It sounds As if he Means his career. But Michener a Best Story is his life. He tells it Well. In a pinstriped suit and Vest his posture ramrod straight he looks More like the Navy lieutenant commander he once was than the Best Selling novelist he became. Now 85, Michener is in the Twilight of his career. With More than 35 books behind him and americans highest civilian award the presidential medal of Freedom Michener could be forgiven if he just took it easy. A but for Michener age seems just a minor inconvenience. He a just Back from two trips one to Antarctica and one tracing the voyage of Christopher Columbus from Genoa Italy to san Salvador. His latest epic Mexico is on Best seller lists. Michener began the Book in 1961 he abandoned it and the manuscript was thought to have been lost. In the kind of twist that Marks some of his books a Cousin found the missing manuscript during an exhaustive search last year of Michener a Pennsylvania Home. Michener finished Mexico and recently handed in another Book to his publisher. He has no desire to slow his prolific Pace. A everything i Ever did in my life i enjoyed a says Michener during a recent interview with his wife and Cousin in new York City. A i never sought a Job or asked for a raise or promotion. It always came to me. Michener is one of the most successful writers of the 20th Century happily married for 37 years. He gives the impression of a charmed life. But Tell him that and he flinches perceptibly. A you must remember i was a foundling a he says abruptly. A the Early years were incredibly difficult. I had a very Tough  he is then silent for a minute. He looks up. A but in a a pretty Tough  Michener a childhood was Given Short shrift in his recent autobiography the world is my Home. He says he does no to like to dwell on his past. He does no to even know too much about it. Michener has spent his life exhaustively chronicling the history of states countries and epochs from Texas Caribbean Hawaii to Iberia Alaska the source Sayonara and the Bridges at Toko i. His first Book tales of the South Pacific based on two Tours of duty during world War ii won the pulitzer prize. Rodgers and Hammerstein based the musical South Pacific on it. Michener says he knows More about the world than he docs about himself. A in my Case i think its better that i done to know a he says. A a in be worked out a system that has allowed me to live an honorable and productive life. In a not sure i want to really know my past or know where my motivations come from. They May be pretty Damn  Michener was abandoned As a baby and taken in by a woman and her two Sisters in Bucks county a. He does no to know How he got to her. He never asked. A in those Days we never talked about those things a Michener says. A when you have a childhood like mine and you survive it gives you strength. The hell of it is Many done to  Michener has no quarrel with the woman who raised him Mabel whose surname he took. He Calls the new York times James Michener in 1989. Her a incredibly  he says growing up As an abandoned orphan of unknown parentage in a Small Rural town in the first Quarter of the Century was hard. Food and Money were scarce. Michener wore Only hand me Down clothes until he was 14. Fathers in town  let Michener Date their daughters. Michener always had a Strong sense of self preservation. He got top grades in school and was a Star athlete As a teen Ager. But his Talent and ambition engendered jealousy from Many of the people with whom he grew up. A you weren to supposed to aspire beyond a perceived level you weren to supposed to succeed to Rise above the  Michener ran afoul of his High school principal when he was 14. Despite his academic record the principal told him he should study to become a plumber. A few years later when Michener won a full scholarship to Swarthmore College the same principal visited Mabel Michener and told her James  go. A the told her that i would do badly and bring shame on the school a Michener says a rare moment of bitterness seeping into his voice. But Michener did go to Swarthmore. It was there that he had what he says was his first and Only emotional crisis. A i had a bad three Days when i was 19,�?� he says. A i found out about my background and the sketch Ness of it All. At the end of the three Days i said i will never think about it again. And i  he sits up straighter and looks defiant. A and it has not mattered in my life not even one tenth of one  Michener finished Swarthmore and he smiles a everything came easily after that. I had All my negatives pretty  paperback reviews on the altar of Freedom a Black sol Dler a civil War letters from the front by Corporal James Henry Gooding edited by Virginia m. Adams Warner. This is the Only sustained account of the civil War from the perspective of a Black Soldier Cpl. James Henry Gooding of the 54th Massachusetts regt. Gooding who ultimately died in a Confederate prison Camp wrote these letters for publication in a weekly newspaper the new Bedford Mercury. Satcho by Gary Giddins Anchor. This inspiring biographical homage to jazz great Louis Armstrong includes unpublished photographs scenes from his films Sheet music letters and diary entries. Agatha Christie the woman and her mysteries by Gillian Gill free press. Gill looks at Agatha Christie a career from a feminist standpoint noting her Strong heroines As Well As her Strong narrative skills. A the new York time Slu St silk renew York times list hardback fiction 1 Delores Claiborne by Stephen King last week. 1 weeks on list 4 2 mixed blessings by Danielle steel last week 2, weeks on list 6 3 Mexico by James a Michener last week 3, weeks on list 8 4 the tale of the body thief by Anne Rice last week 4. Weeks on list 10 5 the Pelican Arlel by John Grisham last week 5, weeks on list 42 6 the Bridges of Madison county by Robert James Walter last week 7. Weeks on list 20 7 Gritton a Sabine by Nick ban lock last week 6. Weeks on list 17 8 the stars Shine Down by Sidney Sheldon last week 8 weeks on list 11 9 Gerald s game by Stephen King last week 11 weeks on list 24 6 10 the general Slaughter by Nelson do Mill last week 9. Weeks on list 5 11 mostly harmless by Douglas Adams last week 10 weeks on list 9 12 Sabine s notebook by Nick Bantock last week 12 weeks on list 11 13 Donop Tola by James Gurney first week on list 14 we re i merchant by Jimmy Bullet last week 14, weeks on list. 15 red Square by Marlin Cruz Smith last week 15, weeks on list 5 nonfiction 1 the Way things ought to be by Rush Limbaugh last week 1 weeks on list 15 2 it does t take a hero by h. Norman Schwarzkopf with Peter Petra last week 2 weeks on list 12 3 every living thing by James Harriol last week 3 weeks on list 17 4 Truman David Mccullough last week 4, weeks on list 28 5 i can to believe i said that by Kachic Lee Gillord with Jim Jerome last week 5 weeks on list 10 6 the Teol Piglet by Benjamin Holl last week 7 weeks on list. 14 7 sex by Madonna Iasi week 6 weeks on list 8 8 women who run with the wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes last week 9, weeks on list 21 9 Juk reckless youth by Nigel Hamilton last week 11 weeks on list 3 10 Young men a fire by Norman Maclean last week 12 weeks on list 17 11 my life by Earvin magic Johnson last week 8 weeks on list 6 12 Genius by James Gleick last week 12 weeks on list 8 13 Dave Barry does Japan by Dave Barry first week on list 14 hang time by Bob Greene first week on list 15 i Haven to understood anything since 1962 by Lewis Grizzard first week on list miscellaneous 1 creating love by John Bradshaw last week 1 weeks on list 3 2 Harvey Penlick s Little red Book by Harvey Penick Iasi week 2, weeks on list 24 3 the measure of our Success by Marian Wright Edelman last week 5, weeks on list 15 4 the american heritage dictionary of the English language fast week 4 weeks on list 13 5 Lite s Little instruction Book by h. Jackson Brownjr last week 3, weeks on list 14 paperback fiction 1 the doomsday conspiracy by Sidney Sheldon weeks on list 6 2 a River runs through it by Norman Maclean pocket weeks on list 9 3 a time to kill by John Grisham weeks on list 37 4 the firm by John Grisham weeks on list 48 5 hideaway by Dean Koontz weeks on list 7 6 Angel by Johanna Lindsey weeks on list 5 7 the waste lands by Stephen King weeks on list 3 b a River runs through it by Norman Maclean University of Chicago weeks on list 8 9 rising Sun by Michael Crichton Lisl week on list 10 fugitive nights by Joseph Wambaugh Lisl week on list 11 a thousand acres by Jane Smiley weeks on list 13 12 Midnight whispers by v c Andrews weeks on list 9 13 Scarlett by Alexandra Ripley weeks on list 12 14 such devoted Sisters by Eileen Goudge weeks on list 3 15 Dracula by Bram Stoker weeks on list 3 nonfiction 1 the autobiography of Malcolm x with the assistance of Alex Haley weeks on list 9 2 Diana her True Story by Andrew Modon weeks on list 5 3 when you look like your passport photo it s time to go Home by Erma Bombeck weeks on list 8 4 backlash by Susan Paludi weeks on list 11 5 Molly Ivins can t say that can she by Molly Ivins weeks on Lea h 6 memories by Ralph Emery with Tome Carter weeks on list 2 7 the Road less travelled by m Scott Peck weeks on list 477 8 a year in Provence by Peter Mayle weeks on list 70 9 you just Don t understand by Deborah Tannin weeks on list 84 10 putting people first by Bill Clinton and at Gore weeks on list 11 miscellaneous 1 Lite a Little instruction Book by h Jackson Brownjr weeks on list 72 2 the  Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson weeks on list t4 3 cows of our planet by Gary Larson weeks on fist 7 4 live and Leam and pass it on by Jackson Brown weeks on h a 24 5 the world almanac and Book of facts 1993 edited by Manl s  weeks on list 3 most books listed Are available or on order at stars and stripes bookstores. December 21, 1992 sunday a Pace 1/