Michael Shaara

Michael Shaara was a novelist, short story writer, and educator. He was born in Jersey City, New Jersey on June 23, 1928. Shaara earned a B.S. from Rutgers University and did graduate work at Columbia University and the University of Vermont. Shaara spent two years in the service, worked as a policeman and a sailor, and became associate professor at Florida State University in 1961. From 1961 to 1965 he wrote, produced, and performed in a show for educational television. Shaara published a novel in 1974 titled, The Killer Angels. The novel told the story of the Battle of Gettysburg from the point of view of the men fighting it. It received the Pulitzer Prize in 1975. In 1993, the novel was the basis for the motion picture Gettysburg. Shaara also published more than 70 short stories that appeared in several U.S. and foreign publications and wrote several more novels. Shaara died on May 5, 1988.