David Michaelis

David Tead Michaelis (born October 3, 1957) is an American writer since the late 1970s. As a biographer, Michealis wrote about N.C. Wyeth, Charles Schulz and Eleanor Roosevelt. He won the 1999 Ambassador Book Award in the Autobiography and Biography category with N.C. Wyeth: A Biography and was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography in 2021 with Eleanor. With his non-fiction works, Michaelis also co-wrote John Aristotle Phillips's biography and solely wrote about male friendship.

Outside of non-fiction, Michaelis released the 1989 fiction book titled Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl. Apart from literature, Michaelis edited The Paris Review in the 1970s. The following decade, he wrote for Manhattan, inc. and volunteered with the New York City Police Department.

Early life and education

Michaelis's birth occurred in Boston, Massachusetts on October 3, 1957.[1] During the 1960s, Michaelis enjoyed The Beatles and archery.[2] For his post-secondary education, Michaelis attended Princeton University and lived with John Aristotle Phillips.[3]

In 1976, Michaelis and Phillips were co-authors of an unreleased theatrical production while at Princeton.[4] During the 1970s, they created the Aristotle Pizza Delivery Agency for the university. Their company also sold popcorn and frozen yogurt at Princeton.[5] By the late 1970s, Michaelis was a short story author before he became interested in nonfiction.[6]

Career

Literature

In 1977, Michaelis and Phillips wrote about "their experiences with the atomic bomb and growing up in the 70s" with a book scheduled to be released as Falling Upward the following year.[7] With Mushroom: The Story of the A-Bomb Kid, their 1978 book was about Phillips and the atomic bomb blueprint he created while at Princeton.[8] While reviewing the book for The Central New Jersey Home News, Lawrence Ausubel believed that fictional newspapers were included in Mushroom.[9] In 2017, a planned movie based on the book was announced by Deadline.[10]

In 1983, Michaelis published The Best of Friends: Profiles of Extraordinary Friendships.[11] For The Best of Friends, Michaelis mainly wrote about males who were not famous.[12] Of the fourteen people in the book, some people Michaelis discussed included John F. Kennedy and Isamu Noguchi.[13] With his 1989 fictional book titled Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl, Michaelis wrote about a man remembering his time at Miss Little's School for Girls when he was a teenager.[14]

By the early 1990s, Michaelis had begun writing about perfectionism for a fictional book. He then changed his focus to a N.C. Wyeth biography after his spouse gave him the idea during 1991.[15] Michaelis's work, N.C. Wyeth: A Biography was released in 1998.[16] He co-authored the 2000 book One Nation: Patriots and Pirates Portrayed by N.C. Wyeth and James Wyeth alongside Lauren Raye Smith and Tom Brokaw.[17]

In 2001, Michaelis was selected to write a biography on Charles Schulz.[18] As a contributor, Michaelis wrote about Schulz in the 2004 publication of The Complete Peanuts: 1950-1952.[19] His biography on Schulz was released in 2007 titled Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography.[20] Before the Schulz biography was set to be published that year, Schulz's family said there were mistakes and missing information in the book by Michaelis. While talking about the book, Michaelis said there was nothing incorrect with his biography on Schulz.[21]

Michaelis began his book on Eleanor Roosevelt in 2009.[22] During 2020, he released his Roosevelt biography titled Eleanor.[23] While reviewing the book, Gail Collins of The New York Times said it was "the first major single-volume biography in more than half a century".[24]

Additional positions

In the late 1970s, he held an editing position with The Paris Review.[6] He then wrote for Manhattan, inc. the following decade.[25] By the 2000s, some magazines his contributions appeared in were The New Republic and The American Scholar.[26][27] Apart from literature, Michaelis worked for the New York City Police Department as a volunteer during the early 1980s.[1] He had been consulted as part of the November 2007 television special titled "Good Ol' Charles Schulz" for American Masters.[20][28]

Writing process and themes

In the early 1980s, Michaelis conducted personal interviews about male friendships for The Best of Friends.[29] While Michaelis was creating The Best of Friends, James Stewart declined to appear in the book. When the death of John Belushi occurred before The Best of Friends was completed, Michaelis included Belushi's friendship with Dan Aykroyd in his book.[30] Micahelis read personal correspondence that were owned by Houghton Miffin, the Archives of American Art and the Wyeth family for his biography on N.C. Wyeth. Upon completing his 4,000 page book, Michaelis reduced the length of his biography by over 80 percent before publication.[15]

To create his biography on Schulz, Michaelis examined documents owned by the Schulzs and United Media as part of his research.[31] He also read Peanuts and conducted over 200 interviews.[32] Schulz and Peanuts was revised multiple times before it was ready for publication.[21] Details that were included in the Roosevelt biography by Michaelis were "topography, wardrobe, weather conditions and societal moods".[23]

Awards and personal life

Michaelis won the 1999 Ambassador Book Award in the Autobiography and Biography category with N.C. Wyeth.[33] In 2021, he was a Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Biography nominee with Eleanor.[34] Michaelis had two children during his marriage.[35]

References
  1. Peacock, Scot, ed. (2000). "Michaelis, David (Tead) 1957-". Contemporary Authors. New Revision. Vol. 88. Detroit and Woodbridge, Connecticut: Gale Group. p. 293. ISBN 0787632112. LCCN 62-52046. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  2. Michaelis, David (Autumn 2002). "Sgt. Pepper's Words". The American Scholar. Vol. 71, no. 4. p. 130. ISSN 0003-0937.
  3. Korones, Susan (October 24, 1976). "Princeton student shuns bomb publicity fall-out". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. A14.
  4. Pudlow, J. M. (October 14, 1979). "A-bomb builder jokes too much". Tallahassee Democrat. p. 15G.
  5. Peterson, Charles (May 8, 1977). "John Aristotle Phillips: The A-Bomb Kid". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. p. sec. Parade p. 10.
  6. Merritt, Robert (May 3, 1983). "Friendships may lead to rivalries". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. B-7.
  7. Livingston, Debra (February 9, 1978). "Student's life 'mushrooms' at Princeton". Courier-Post (Home ed.). p. 2.
  8. Van Siceln, Clinton (October 8, 1978). "A junior year of nukes and hype". The Baltimore Sun. p. D 5.
  9. Ausubel, Lawrence (October 8, 1978). "'A-bomb kid' tells of explosive feat". The Central New Jersey Home News. p. B21.
  10. N'Duka, Amanda (July 26, 2017). "Jason Ludman & Adam Gibbs Team On Film About 'The A-Bomb Kid". Deadline. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 18, 2023.
  11. Cryer, Dan (August 1, 1983). "Man's desire for friendship examined". The Arizona Republic. Newsday. p. D1.
  12. Carter, Ron (May 1, 1983). "Profiles show friendship elusive". Richmond Times-Dispatch. p. G-5.
  13. Boyd, Malcolm (May 29, 1983). "Title Page". The Los Angeles Times. p. Eight.
  14. Perry, Dudley (November 24, 1989). "Michaelis's Novel Is Story of Obsession". The Atlanta Journal and Constitution. p. C-3.
  15. Sutherland, Amy (January 3, 1999). "N.C.". Portland Press Herald. p. 2E.
  16. Mullinax, Gary (October 9, 1998). "Inside N.C. Wyeth". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. p. D1.
  17. O'Briant, Don (November 26, 2000). "The Big Books". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. G5.
  18. Paddock, Polly (March 4, 2001). "Michaelis signs to do Charles Schulz bio". The Charlotte Observer. p. 6F.
  19. Lalumière, Claude (May 22, 2004). "Comics as social commentary". The Gazette. sec. Weekend Arts & Books p. 5.
  20. Hibblen, Michael (October 21, 2007). "50 years of 'Peanuts'". The Bradenton Herald. McClatchy Newspapers. p. 2E.
  21. Cohen, Patricia (October 8, 2007). "Biography of 'Peanuts' Creator Stirs Family". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 25, 2023. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  22. Michaelis, David (2020). Eleanor (First paperback ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 547. ISBN 9781439192047. Archived from the original on March 1, 2023. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  23. Brinkley, Douglas (November 6, 2020). "A modest rebel: The paradoxical personality of Eleanor Roosevelt". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 13, 2020. Retrieved February 24, 2023.
  24. Collins, Gail (October 6, 2020). "Eleanor Roosevelt, First Among First Ladies". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 26, 2023. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  25. Sutherland 1999, p. 1E
  26. Michaelis, David (November 9, 1992). "Staples". The New Republic. Vol. 207, no. 20. pp. 12–13. ISSN 0028-6583.
  27. Michaelis, David (Autumn 2004). "The Class Egotist". The American Scholar. Vol. 73, no. 4. pp. 79–81. ISSN 0003-0937.
  28. Kiesewetter, John (November 15, 2007). "Lucy's namesake a former resident". The Cincinnati Enquirer. p. 10.
  29. Michaelis, David (1983). The Best of Friends: Profiles of Extraordinary Friendships (First ed.). New York: William Morrow and Company, Inc. p. 7. ISBN 0688015581. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  30. Levey, Robert (July 18, 1983). "Best friends". The Boston Globe. p. 11.
  31. Michaelis, David (2007). Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography (First ed.). New York: HarperCollins Publishers. p. 573. ISBN 9780066213934. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  32. Michaelis 2007, pp. 574, 576-78
  33. "The Collected Poems of Robert Penn Warren among winners of Ambassador Book Award". The Town Talk. May 27, 1999. p. D-3.
  34. Pineda, Dorany (March 2, 2021). "Isabel Wilkerson, Jacob Soboroff, Akwaeke Emezi among L.A. Times Book Prize finalists". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on May 22, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2023.
  35. Brady, Thomas J. (October 4, 1998). "The first portrait of the Wyeth patriarch". The Philadelphia Inquirer. p. Q2.
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