James Michener (1907-1997)

I was first touched by James Michener some 15 years ago when my painting class at Southwest Texas came to Austin to view his collection of American art on the UT campus. I sat cross-legged on the carpet, admiring Pearlstein's cool nudes and Gottlieb's bold red and black brush strokes.

Later, after I got my M.F.A. in creative writing, I moved to Austin and discovered that Michener had also made it his home. He had just founded the Texas Center for Writers and was hosting a little series of films, the movies that had made the deepest impression on him as a writer. I recall only the two films I attended -- The Passion of Joan of Arc and McCabe and Mrs. Miller. Before the lights dimmed, an elderly man with owlish glasses ambled out with his cane. Michener explained that he had grown up poor in Doylestown, PA and movies had been his only luxury and escape. He tried to relate to us what effect the stark drama of Joan of Arc had on him as a young boy. He confessed that he was no great shakes as a writer, just very lucky. He invited the audience to search for inspiration in these and other films or works of art, stressing that these weren't the best films ever made, they were just his favorites.

Though it was nearly 10 years ago, I remember exactly the effect Michener's words had on me. I felt he knew me more deeply than I knew myself. Just as he had shown me the paintings that shaped my vision as a young art student, now he was sharing with me the advice I would need as a writer. Find your own inspiration in whichever medium it exists. Don't get hung up on your ego. Enjoy the craft of writing -- that is the reward.

I think Michener had that effect on lots of people, telling them things about themselves they had not discovered on their own. Last night, a friend of mine related that he had read Michener's Caravan, a novel about the nomads of Afghanistan, in high school and made his own pilgrimage there, traveling days and nights by train to make this dream come true.

As things turned out, I work in the same building where Michener's art collection is displayed. I show visiting friends around the gallery like it's my own living room. I stopped in the other day and, according to the guard, since Michener died on October 16 attendance at the gallery is way up. A book has been set out for visitors to sign and they write things like, "Thank you, Mr. Michener, for giving us this wonderful art."

Pulitzer prize-winning novelist, the largest single benefactor of the University of Texas at Austin, founder of the Texas Center for Writers, American success story, Mr. Michener was all of these things. But what matters most is that his generosity of spirit has led -- and will continue to lead -- thousands of readers, students, art lovers, and writers to their unknown dreams.

-- Robin Bradford