James Michener: Master Storyteller

What It Takes®

Academy of Achievement

Film, Politics, Arts, Self-help, Sports, Society & Culture, Success, Literature, Humanitarian, Military, Social Justice, Technology, Podcast, Achievement, Music, Science

4.6 • 943 Ratings

🗓️ 9 November 2015

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

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. But when you hear Michener’s voice in this episode, you’ll realize his enormous talent for storytelling was not limited to the page. He is sure to win you over in this 1991 interview, recorded when he was 85 years old and was looking back on his own dramatic life story. He talks about the unlikely approach he took to overcoming considerable obstacles, and about his very first venture into writing fiction, when he was stationed on an island in the Pacific during World War II. The book that emerged from that experience was "Tales of the South Pacific," which won 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 listening to look out for unexpected opportunities and grab them. (c ) American Academy of Achievement 2015

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Madame, this child is gifted, and I heard that enough that I started to believe it.
0:08.6	If you have the opportunity, not a perfect opportunity, and you don't take it, you may never have another
0:14.4	chance.
0:15.4	It all was so clear.
0:16.4	It was just like the picture started to form itself.
0:19.7	There was no way in which a lie could prevail over the truth, darkness over light, death over life.
0:27.0	Every day I wake up and decide. Today I'm going to love my life.
0:34.0	Decide.
0:39.0	My advice is if they don't break your leg once when you go in that place stay out of there. And then along come these differential experiences that you don't look for, you don't plan for,
0:46.3	but boy you better not miss them.
1:00.2	This is what it takes, a podcast about passion, vision and perseverance from the Academy of Achievement.
1:01.6	For this week's episode, I've dug into the Academy's vault and
1:05.2	pulled out a 1991 interview with author James Mitchner. Mitchner wrote over 50 books
1:12.3	of fiction and non-fiction, including historical epics like Hawaii,
1:17.0	The Source, and Texas, along with Tales of the South Pacific, which won a Pulitzer.
1:24.2	I loved listening to this conversation with Mitchner.
1:27.4	He was 85 at the time.
1:29.6	The story of his childhood could have come straight out of Dickens and the story of his
1:35.0	story of his success is full of surprising twists.
1:37.0	But listen first to this frank assessment he gave
1:41.0	of his own talents as a writer.
1:44.0	Let me say what I cannot do.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Academy of Achievement, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Academy of Achievement and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.