John Hersey

American writer John Hersey was born on June 17, 1914, in Tienstin, China, where he lived with his missionary parents until he was ten years old. He studied at Yale University as well as Cambridge before taking a job as a journalist for Time in 1937. Eventually Hersey found himself in Europe and Asia covering war stories, some of which are remarkable articles. His novel Hiroshima was adapted from an article he wrote about six victims of that horrific bombing. Hersey also authored the novels A Bell for Adano, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1945, The Wall, and The Algiers Motel Incident. Aside from his articles on current wars, he commented extensively about the American school system and its flaws. Hersey spent five years, from 1965 to 1970, as a professor and master at Yale. Hersey died on March 24, 1993, at his home in Key West, Florida, leaving his wife Barbara and their five children.