Michael Shaara
- Michael Shaara
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Michael Shaara (June 23, 1928 - May 5, 1988) was an American writer of science fiction, sports fiction, and historical fiction. He was born to Italian immigrant parents (the family name was originally spelled Sciarra, which in Italian is pronounced the same way) in Jersey City, New Jersey, graduated from Rutgers University in 1951, and served as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne division prior to the Korean War.
Before Shaara began selling science fiction stories to fiction magazines in the 1950s, he was an amateur boxer and police officer. He later taught literature at Florida State University while continuing to write fiction. The stress of this and his smoking caused him to have a heart attack at the early age of 36; from which he fully recovered. His novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. Shaara died of another heart attack in 1988.
Shaara's son, Jeffrey Shaara, is also a popular writer of historical fiction; most notably sequels to his father's best-known novel. His most famous is the prequel to The Killer Angels, Gods and Generals. Jeffrey was the one to finally get Michael's last book, For Love of the Game, published three years after he died. Today there is a Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction, established by Jeffrey Shaara, awarded yearly at Gettysburg College.
Contents
Works
Novels
- The Broken Place (1968)
- The Killer Angels (1974)
- The Noah Conspiracy, also known as The Herald (1981)
- Soldier Boy (1982)
- For Love of the Game (1991)
Short stories
- "The Book" (from the Alpha 9 collection)
- "All the Way Back" (1952) - This was included in a collection of short stories compiled by Brian Aldiss, entitled 'Galactic Empires'
External links
- Michael Shaara at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Analysis of Soldier Boy
- Biography at jeffshaara.com
- Michael Shaara prize details
Categories:- 1928 births
- 1988 deaths
- People from Jersey City, New Jersey
- American people of Italian descent
- American science fiction writers
- American historical novelists
- Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners
- Rutgers University alumni
- Florida State University faculty
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Michael Shaara — (* 23. Juni 1928 in Jersey City, New Jersey; † 5. Mai 1988) war ein US amerikanischer Romanautor, der vor allem durch seinen historischen Roman „The Killer Angels“ zum US amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg bekannt wurde. Der Italo Amerikaner (seine… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Shaara — Michael Shaara (* 23. Juni 1928 in Jersey City, New Jersey; † 5. Mai 1988) war ein US amerikanischer Romanautor, der vor allem durch seinen historischen Roman „The Killer Angels“ zum US amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg bekannt wurde. Der Italo… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction — The Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction is an annual literary award awarded to the writer of a work of fiction related to the American Civil War. The award was started by Jeffrey Shaara and named for his father, the writer of … Wikipedia
Jeff Shaara — Jeffrey M. Shaara est un écrivain américain. Il est le fils du vainqueur du prix Pulitzer dénommé Michael Shaara. Sommaire 1 Biographie 2 Œuvres 2.1 Romans 3 Liens externes … Wikipédia en Français
Jeffrey Shaara — Infobox person name = Jeffrey Shaara image size = birth date = 1952 birth place = New Brunswick, New Jersey death date = death place = nationality = American alma mater = Florida State University known for = Novelist spouse =Jeffrey M. Shaara… … Wikipedia
Lila Shaara — is an American novelist, the daughter of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara and the sister of novelist Jeffrey Shaara.She earned her B.A. in religion from Duke University and her M.A. and Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from the University of… … Wikipedia
Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College — The Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College is a non profit organization created to promote the study of the Civil War Era. The Institute was founded in 1982 by historian and Gettysburg College professor Gabor Boritt, an Abraham Lincoln and… … Wikipedia
Thomas Chamberlain — For other people named Thomas Chamberlain, see Thomas Chamberlain (disambiguation). Thomas Davee Chamberlain Thomas D. Chamberlain Nickname Tom … Wikipedia
The Killer Angels — Infobox Book name = The Killer Angels title orig = translator = image caption = The Killer Angels softcover edition author = Michael Shaara illustrator = cover artist = country = United States language = English series = genre = Historical novel… … Wikipedia
The Last Full Measure — (published May 19, 1998 by Ballantine Books; ISBN 0 345 40491 2) is the sequel to The Killer Angels and Gods and Generals . Together, the three novels complete an American Civil War trilogy relating events from 1858 to 1865. The Last Full Measure … Wikipedia