MICHENER, AUTHOR OF EPIC BEST SELLERS, DIES AT 90.

Byline: Juan B. Elizondo Jr. Associated Press 

James A. Michener, who guided millions of readers from the South Pacific to the fringes of space in giant, best-selling novels, died Thursday at his home of kidney failure. He was 90.

Michener's death came less than a week after he ordered doctors to disconnect him from life-sustaining dialysis treatments.

Harold Evans, president of Random House, which published several of Michener's books, called him ``America's storyteller.''

``He took enormous delight in satisfying his own intrepid intellectual curiosity, and we are the richer for it,'' Evans said. ``The world was his home, as he entitled his 1992 autobiography.''

Said Michener's longtime friend and assistant John Kings: ``His loss will be great not only to the literary scene but to the many colleges he has nurtured through the years and the many thousands of people who feel he is their friend.''

Michener's heralded writing career, which spanned nearly 50 years, began in his midlife, with ``Tales of the South Pacific.'' The book, written during his tour of duty with the Navy in World War II won the Pulitzer Prize in 1948 and was the basis for ``South Pacific,'' a long-running Broadway musical and later a motion picture.

Michener then spent decades wandering the globe, from Japan and Korea to Hungary, Hawaii, Afghanistan, Spain, South Africa, Colorado, Israel, Chesapeake Bay, Poland, Texas, Alaska and the Caribbean.

He wrote historical-geographic blockbusters, living in and absorbing the culture of the places of which he wrote. His books argued for universal ideals: religious and racial tolerance, hard work and self-reliance.

``I'm not a stylist,'' Michener said of his writing. ``There are a whole lot of things I'm not good at. I'm not hard in dialogue; I don't have that wonderful crispness. I don't think I'm good at psychology. But what I can do is put a good narrative together and hold the reader's interest.''

Every one of his books was a commercial success. The first printing of his 1985 novel, ``Texas,'' was 750,000 copies; it eventually sold more than 1 million copies.

He never quit working, saying ``as long as the old brain keeps functioning, I know the desire will always be there. I can hardly wait to get up in the morning, to get back to work.''

He released his latest book, ``A Century of Sonnets,'' earlier this year and reportedly was working on a book about his illness.

Michener was born Feb. 3, 1907, in New York City, and was taken as an orphan to the Bucks County Poorhouse in Doylestown, Pa. His name, James Albert Michener, came from his adoptive Quaker parents, Edwin and Mabel Michener.

His childhood was spent in poverty, he recalled, ``so that accounts for my social attitude - I'm a fiery liberal.''

``I've never felt in a position to reject anybody,'' he said in a 1972 interview. ``I could be Jewish, part Negro, probably not Oriental, but almost anything else. This has loomed large in my thoughts.''

Michener followed ``South Pacific'' with ``The Fires of Spring'' in 1949. It was filled with autobiographical touches, telling of a poor Pennsylvania boy who becomes a writer.

In ``Voice of Asia'' in 1951, Michener presented a variety of points of view gathered from interviews in Japan, India and other countries of the Orient. ``The Bridges at Toko-ri'' (1953) and ``Sayonara'' (1954) were based on the Korean War, and in 1955 Michener produced ``The Floating World,'' a history of Japanese prints.

During the Hungarian revolt in 1956, Michener was in Austria where some 20,000 refugees crossed to the West. He assisted dozens to safety, writing about the experience in 1957's ``The Bridge at Andau.''

By that time, Michener was living in Hawaii, where he worked seven years to produce ``Hawaii.'' The novel appeared in 1959 as the islands became the 50th state.

Then Michener was in Afghanistan to write ``Caravans'' (1963); in Israel for ``The Source'' (1965); in Spain for ``Iberia'' (1968) and ``The Drifters'' (1971).

Back in the United States, he wrote a sympathetic account of the tragic student protests at Kent State University, which appeared in 1971 as ``Kent State: What Happened and Why.''

Between trips during the 1960s, Michener again was based in Pennsylvania, where he worked as chairman of the Bucks County Citizens for Kennedy Committee. He wrote about that experience in 1961's ``Report of the County Chairman.''

In 1974, Michener completed ``Centennial,'' an epic tale of Colorado. It became a 26-hour television miniseries, the longest ever.

Then his attention shifted to the East Coast for ``Chesapeake'' in 1978, to South Africa and ``The Covenant'' in 1980, ``Space'' in 1982 and ``Poland'' in 1983.

Former Texas Gov. Bill Clements invited Michener to profile his state in 1981, offering the author a staff position at the University of Texas to help him. Two years of effort produced ``Texas,'' his biggest book at 1,096 pages.

Then he went to work on a book about Alaska.

Before the Navy and his writing, Michener taught at a prep school for two years, then won a two-year grant for study and travel in Europe. He did graduate work at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, studied art in Siena, Italy, and in London, and spent a winter in the Outer Hebrides collecting folk songs.

He graduated with highest honors in English from Swarthmore College in suburban Philadelphia in 1929.

From 1933 to 1941, Michener taught English at various schools including Harvard, taking time out to earn a master's degree. He worked as an editor of educational books at Macmillan publishing company in New York from 1941 until his enlistment in the Navy the following year.

He taught part time well into his 80s, at the University of Texas and at Eckerd College in St. Petersburg, Fla.

His first two marriages, to Patti Koon in 1935 and Vange Nord in 1948, ended in divorce. In 1955, he married Mari Yoriko Sabusawa. She died in September 1994.

His work made Michener wealthy. He donated $2 million to Swarthmore in 1984, calling it payment back with interest for a scholarship he got there, and then gave $5 million more in 1991. His and his wife's gifts to the University of Texas over the years totaled $44.2 million, including a $15 million donation in 1992.

Michener made Austin his final home after working on ``Texas.''

He donated $1 million to a Bucks County art museum that bears his name.

In 1996, Fortune magazine ranked him among the nation's top 25 philanthropists, estimating he gave away $24 million in that year alone.

``I am aware how tough it is to make a living in the arts in the United States,'' he said. ``I'm a nice guy. I don't give anyone a rough time. I've had good luck.''

A funeral service will be held Tuesday in Austin, Kings said. Memorial services were planned for Austin and New York at a later time.

EXCERPTS

Excerpts from the novel ``Hawaii,'' one of James A. Michener's best-known works.

``For us there is only one name,'' the old man insisted in a burst of rhetoric. ``Havaiki of the manifold riches, Havaiki of the brave canoes, Havaiki of strong gods, and courageous men and beautiful women, Havaiki of the dreams that led across the endless oceans, Havaiki that has lived in our hearts for forty and fifty and sixty generations. This is the island of Havaiki!''

And his prayer must have had power, for the trembling stopped, and the horrified voyagers huddled together to decipher this mighty omen.

. . . From the mountain that reached high above their heads volumes of fire began to erupt, and rocks were thrown far into the air. Scattered ash fell back onto the earth and settled on the king's head and on the newly planted banana shoots. All day the fires continued, and into the night, so that the undersides of the clouds that hung over the islands shone red, as if even they were ablaze.

It was a night of terror, fearful in its strangeness and paralyzing in its power.

In one sense Abner did profit: he got each of his parishioners properly dressed for the opening of church, and on the Sunday when the sprawling edifice was consecrated, curious processions from miles around marched through the dust in their unaccustomed finery from Captain Janders' store. . . . Had Abner studied the climate for even a moment, he would have built his grass walls only a few feet high, leaving open space between them and the roof so that air could circulate, but churches in New England were built foursquare, and so they were in Hawaii, with no air stirring and the congregation sweltering in the natural heat, plus the radiation of three thousand closely packed bodies.

MICHENER'S BOOKS

Books by James A. Michener:

``Unit in the Social Studies'' 1940

``Tales of the South Pacific'' 1947

``The Fires of Spring'' 1949

``Return to Paradise'' 1951

``The Voice of Asia'' 1951

``The Bridges at Toko-ri'' 1953

``Sayonara'' 1954

``The Floating World'' 1955

``The Bridge at Andau'' 1957

``Rascals in Paradise'' 1957 (co-author)

``Selected Writings'' 1957

``The Hokusai Sketchbook'' 1958

``Japanese Prints'' 1959

``Hawaii'' 1959

``Report of the County Chairman'' 1961

``Caravans'' 1963

``The Source'' 1965

``Iberia'' 1968

``Presidential Lottery'' 1969

``The Quality of Life'' 1970

``Kent State'' 1971

``The Drifters'' 1971

``A Michener Miscellany'' 1973

``Centennial'' 1974

``Sports in America'' 1976

``Chesapeake'' 1978

``The Covenant'' 1980

``Space'' 1982

``Poland'' 1983

``Texas'' 1985

``Legacy'' 1986

``Alaska'' 1987

``Journey'' 1988

``Caribbean'' 1989

``Six Days in Havana'' 1989 (with John Kings)

``Pilgrimage'' 1990

``The Eagle and the Raven'' 1990

``The Novel'' 1991

``The World Is My Home'' 1991

``James A. Michener's Writer's Handbook'' 1992

``Mexico'' 1992

``Creatures of the Kingdom'' 1993

``My Lost Mexico'' 1992

``Literary Reflections'' 1993

``Recessional'' 1994

``Miracle in Seville'' 1995

``This Noble Land: My Vision of America'' 1996

``A Century of Sonnets'' 1997

CAPTION(S):

Photo, 2 boxes

PHOTO Author James A. Michener, shown in a 1989 photo, took readers on trips around and off the globe.

Associated Press

Box: (1) Excerpt (see text)

(2) Books (see text)