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Michael Shaara (June 23, 1928 - May 5, 1988) was an American writer of science fiction
Science fiction

Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media....
, sports fiction, and historical fiction
Historical fiction

Historical fiction is a sub-genre of fiction that often portrays fictional accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Writers of stories in this genre, while penning fiction, nominally attempt to capture the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the persons or time presented in the story, with due attention paid to period...
. He was born to Italian immigrant parents (the family name was originally spelled Sciarra) in Jersey City, New Jersey
New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
, graduated from Rutgers University
Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766 and is the Colonial colleges in the United States....
 in 1951, and served as an airborne infantry officer in the Korean War
Korean War

The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korea and South Korea regimes, with major hostilities lasting from June 25, 1950 until the armistice signed on July 27, 1953....
.

Before Shaara began selling science fiction stories to fiction magazines in the 1950s, he was an amateur boxer and police officer.






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Michael Shaara (June 23, 1928 - May 5, 1988) was an American writer of science fiction
Science fiction

Science fiction is a broad genre of fiction that often involves speculations based on current or future science or technology. Science fiction is found in books, art, television, films, games, theatre, and other media....
, sports fiction, and historical fiction
Historical fiction

Historical fiction is a sub-genre of fiction that often portrays fictional accounts or dramatization of historical figures or events. Writers of stories in this genre, while penning fiction, nominally attempt to capture the spirit, manners, and social conditions of the persons or time presented in the story, with due attention paid to period...
. He was born to Italian immigrant parents (the family name was originally spelled Sciarra) in Jersey City, New Jersey
New Jersey

New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic States and Northeastern United States regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north by New York, on the east by the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by Delaware, and on the west by Pennsylvania....
, graduated from Rutgers University
Rutgers University

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766 and is the Colonial colleges in the United States....
 in 1951, and served as an airborne infantry officer in the Korean War
Korean War

The Korean War refers to a period of military conflict between North Korea and South Korea regimes, with major hostilities lasting from June 25, 1950 until the armistice signed on July 27, 1953....
.

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
Florida State University

Florida State University is a public university located in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. It is a comprehensive doctoral research university with medical programs and significant research activity as determined by the The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching....
 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; which he fully recovered from. His novel about the Battle of Gettysburg
Battle of Gettysburg

The Battle of Gettysburg , fought in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, as part of the Gettysburg Campaign, was the battle with the largest number of casualties in the American Civil War and is frequently cited as the war's Turning point of the American Civil War....
, The Killer Angels
The Killer Angels

The Killer Angels is a historical novel by Michael Shaara that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975 in literature. The book tells the story of four days of the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War: June 29, 1863, as the troops of both the United States of America and the Confederate States of America move into bat...
, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

The Pulitzer Prize for Fiction has been awarded since 1948 for distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life....
 in 1975
1975 in literature

The year 1975 in literature involved some significant events and new books....
. Shaara died of another heart attack
Myocardial infarction

Myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when the Blood flow to part of the heart is interrupted. This is most commonly due to occlusion of a coronary artery following the rupture of a Vulnerable plaque, which is an unstable collection of lipids and white blood cells in the wall of an artery....
 in 1988.

Shaara's son, Jeffrey Shaara
Jeffrey Shaara

Jeffrey M. Shaara is an United States Novel, the son of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Shaara.Jeffrey Shaara was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey and grew up in Tallahassee, Florida....
, is also a popular writer of historical fiction; most notably sequel
Sequel

A sequel is a work in literature, film, or other media that portrays events following those of a previous work.In many cases, the sequel continues elements of the original story, often with the same characters and settings....
s to his father's best-known novel. His most famous is the prequel to The Killer Angels
The Killer Angels

The Killer Angels is a historical novel by Michael Shaara that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975 in literature. The book tells the story of four days of the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War: June 29, 1863, as the troops of both the United States of America and the Confederate States of America move into bat...
, Gods and Generals
Gods and Generals

Gods and Generals is a novel which serves as a prequel to Michael Shaara's 1974 Pulitzer Prize-winning work about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels....
. Jeffrey was the one to finally get Michael's last book, For Love of the Game
For Love of the Game

For Love of the Game is a novel by Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning author Michael Shaara, published posthumously in 1991 in literature. The book tells the story of fictional baseball great Billy Chapel, Thirty seven years old and nearing the end of his career....
, 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
Gettysburg College

Gettysburg College is a private national four-year Liberal arts colleges in the United States founded in 1832, in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, adjacent to the famous Gettysburg Battlefield....
.

Works


Novels

  • The Broken Place
    The Broken Place

    The Broken Place, is a novel by Michael Shaara, the author of The Killer Angels, For Love of the Game, and The Noah Conspiracy. It was published by the New American Library in 1968....
     (1968)
  • The Killer Angels
    The Killer Angels

    The Killer Angels is a historical novel by Michael Shaara that was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975 in literature. The book tells the story of four days of the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War: June 29, 1863, as the troops of both the United States of America and the Confederate States of America move into bat...
     (1974)
  • The Noah Conspiracy
    The Noah Conspiracy

    The Noah Conspiracy is a 1981 novel by Michael Shaara, author of The Killer Angels and For Love of the Game.It is a science fiction novel about the fate of mankind, in which millions are dying, and one man must choose between saving mankind or saving the future....
     (1981)
  • Soldier Boy
    Soldier Boy (novel)

    Soldier Boy is a 1953 science fiction short story by Michael Shaara, about a soldier boy who saves the planet from aliens. It was originally published in the July 1953 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction....
     (1982)
  • For Love of the Game
    For Love of the Game

    For Love of the Game is a novel by Pulitzer Prize for Fiction-winning author Michael Shaara, published posthumously in 1991 in literature. The book tells the story of fictional baseball great Billy Chapel, Thirty seven years old and nearing the end of his career....
     (1991)


Short stories

  • "The Book" (from the Alpha 9
    Alpha 9

    Alpha 9 is a science fiction anthology edited by Robert Silverberg first published in 1978....
     collection)


External links