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Quiz about The Life of James A Michener
Quiz about The Life of James A Michener

The Life of James A. Michener Trivia Quiz


How much do you know about the life of Pulitzer Prize winning author, James A. Michener?

A multiple-choice quiz by Eolena. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
Eolena
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
252,721
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
5 / 10
Plays
258
Awards
Top 35% Quiz
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. Who raised James A. Michener? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. During his life, Michener was a great supporter of the arts. Where is the James A. Michener Art Museum located? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. What is James A. Michener's middle name? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Prior to becoming a writer, Michener worked in various other jobs. Which of the following did he NOT do? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. James A. Michener ran for U.S. Congress in 1962.


Question 6 of 10
6. How many times did Michener marry? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. Michener never fathered any children of his own.


Question 8 of 10
8. Which author did Michener say most influenced his early life? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. Which President of the United States awarded Michener with the Presidential Medal of Freedom? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Where was Michener when he died? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. Who raised James A. Michener?

Answer: An adoptive mother

Michener has been quoted to say "I never had a father or a man in the house". He was raised by Mabel Michener, a widow, who adopted him.
2. During his life, Michener was a great supporter of the arts. Where is the James A. Michener Art Museum located?

Answer: Doylestown, Pennsylvania

Michener spent his childhood in Doylestown. Quoted from the museum's website: "In 1988, with the support of many dedicated citizens, the James A. Michener Art Museum opened as an independent, non-profit cultural institution dedicated to preserving, interpreting and exhibiting the art and cultural heritage of the Bucks County region.

The Museum is named for Doylestown's most famous son, the Pulitzer-Prize winning writer and supporter of the arts who had first dreamed of a regional art museum in the early 1960's."
3. What is James A. Michener's middle name?

Answer: Albert

Albert is a name of German origin. It means noble or bright.
4. Prior to becoming a writer, Michener worked in various other jobs. Which of the following did he NOT do?

Answer: Work as a traveling shoe salesman

To the best of my knowledge and research, Michener never worked as a traveling shoe salesman. As a teenager, he traveled around the country by riding boxcars and hitch hiking, and would do odd jobs like working for carnivals to make a little spending money. Having graduated with highest honors from Swarthmore College and attending St. Andrew's University in Scotland, he taught at various schools including the George School in Bucks County, PA and at Colorado State Teachers College.

He was also an Assistant Visiting Professor of History at Harvard University. Sometime after that, he was editing textbooks for a major NY publishing company, MacMillan Publishing, when he left to join the Navy for World War II.
5. James A. Michener ran for U.S. Congress in 1962.

Answer: True

In 1962, Michener ran for U.S. Congress as a Democrat in a heavily Republican district in Pennsylvania. He lost. However, in 1968, he served as secretary of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention and helped to enact several important changes in state government.
6. How many times did Michener marry?

Answer: 3

In 1935, he married Patti Koon, whom he met while teaching at the George School in Doylestown, PA. After getting divorced from his first wife, in 1948 he married Vange Nord, an aspiring writer. In 1955, Michener and Nord divorced and he married his third wife, Mari Yoriko Sabusawa. She was a 2nd generation Japanese-American and they were married for 39 years until she died in 1994.
7. Michener never fathered any children of his own.

Answer: True

Michener never had any children of his own with any of his wives, but throughout their marriage, he and third wife Mari housed and cared for many children. Plus, as he said in an interview in 1991, "My wife and I send other people's children to college and are glad when they achieve and gain good lives."
8. Which author did Michener say most influenced his early life?

Answer: Balzac

Michener said, quoted from an interview given in 1991 in St. Petersburg, Florida (available at http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/mic0int-1): "Balzac. That son-of-a-gun could write. And he kept writing. He wrote, there were 30 or 40 great books. And he did it his way.

He didn't try to be Flaubert; he didn't try to be Dostoyevsky, or anybody else. I take great solace from that. It's curious. I'm educated in the British tradition, but the French have had a very powerful impact on me."
9. Which President of the United States awarded Michener with the Presidential Medal of Freedom?

Answer: Gerald R. Ford

Michener was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on January 10, 1977 by President Gerald R. Ford in honor of Michener's generous support of the arts. The Medal of Freedom is one of the two highest awards given to civilians in the United States (the other award being the Congressional Gold Medal).
10. Where was Michener when he died?

Answer: Austin, Texas

In his final years, he was based at the University of Texas at Austin, where he was when he died on October 16, 1997 at the age of 90. He died of renal failure a few days after having ordered his doctors to disconnect the kidney dialysis machine that was keeping him alive.
Source: Author Eolena

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Exit10 before going online.
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