K4402

American Journalists

 John Hersey

Collins Cover Announcement 

American Journalists

John Hersey

John was born in Tientsin, China on June 17, 1914. His parents, Roscoe and Grace Baird Hersey, were missionaries. When he was ten his family returned to the United States where he attended the Hotchkiss School followed by Yale University. John went on for his graduate studies to Cambridge in England where he was a Mellon Fellow. In the summer of 1937, he secured a seasonal job as secretary to Sinclair Lewis and that fall began his career at Time magazine.

During World War II, he covered the fighting in Europe and the South Pacific. He wrote articles for Time, Life, and The New Yorker and won acclaim for his coverage of the battles of Sicily in Europe and Guadalcanal in the Pacific. During this time he also authored several works including "Men on Bataan," "Into the Valley," and "A Bell for Adamo." The latter was made into a 1945 motion picture starring John Hodiak and Gene Tierney.

His most notable work was "Hiroshima" which was a story about the effects of the atom bomb dropped there on August 6, 1945 when Japan refused to surrender. My hand painted cachet shows the infamous mushroom cloud and mother and son survivors making their way to safety. A portrait of Hersey is in the foreground. His account, which focused on six victims of the bombing, was one of the first literary works to combine non-fiction events with the devices and story-line of a novel.

I'm pleased to offer this individually hand painted First Day Cover to honor the gifted Pulitzer Prizewinning writer and journalist — John Richard Hersey. Collins #K4402 $13.25.