Writer Lucas Yoder, editor Shirley Marmelstein, critic and would-be author Karl Streibert, and reader Jane Garland, who treasures the written word, play key roles in a study of the people who create, publish, critique, and enjoy books.
**James A. Michener** was born in 1907 and raised by a Quaker woman in Pennsylvania. During World War II he served with the U.S. Navy and traveled across the Pacific. His *Tales of the South Pacific* won the Pulitzer Prize in 1947. He lived with his wife in Austin, Texas. He was director of the Texas Center for Writers at the University of Texas.
