Michael John Arlen (born December 9, 1930) is an American writer, primarily of non-fiction and personal history, as well as a longtime staff writer and television critic for The New Yorker.
Early life Michael John Arlen was born on December 9, 1930, in London,Vineta Colby, World Authors, 1975-1980 (Wilson, 1985: ), p. 45. the son of a British-Armenian writer, Michael Arlen, and former Countess Atalanta Mercati of Athens, Greece. His early childhood was spent with his family in Cannes, in the South of France.Arlen, Michael J. (1970) Exiles Published by Farrar, Straus & Giroux, New York At the outbreak of World War II, he was at boarding school in England and went with his school to join a Canadian school in Ottawa, Canada.Arlen, Michael J. (1975) Passage to Ararat Published by Farrar Straus & Giroux: Later he transferred to St. Paul's School, Concord, New Hampshire,Exiles p. 141 after which he went to Harvard College, where he was a co-President of The Harvard Lampoon and graduated in 1952.Kaplan, Martin (1973)The Harvard Lampoon Centennial Celebration, 1876-1973 Published by Little, Brown: p.251
Career
Arlen worked as a reporter on Life for five years, from 1952 to 1957,Arlen, Michael J. (August 1972) “Green days and photojournalism, and the old man in the room” The Atlantic before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1957 where he remained until 1990. His first book was Living-Room War, a collection of his television pieces centered on the Vietnam War.Arlen, Michael J. (1969) Living-Room War Published by Viking, US: The book's title, a term Arlen coined, has gone on to be heavily referenced in academic and journalistic writing.Pach, Chester (May 13, 2017) “ Lyndon Johnson’s Living Room War” New York Times. His two best-known books are Exiles (focused on his childhood in the South of France)Exiles and Passage to Ararat (about his Armenian heritage),Passage to Ararat both of them personal histories that first appeared in full in The New Yorker.
Awards
Exiles was short-listed for the National Book Award. Passage to Ararat won the National Book Award (Contemporary Affairs) in 1976."National Book Awards – 1976". National Book Foundation. Retrieved 2012-03-09. There was a "Contemporary" or "Current" award category from 1972 to 1980.
Personal life
Arlen has four children from his first marriage. He married a second time, to screenwriter Alice Albright, in 1972, and together they raised an extended family of seven children. Alice Albright Arlen died in 2016."Alice Arlen, Screenwriter With Premier Journalistic Pedigree, Dies at 75". New York Times. Retrieved March 1, 2016
Works Living-Room War (1969) An American Verdict (1974) Exiles (1970) Passage to Ararat (1975) — National Book Award, Contemporary Affairs The View from Highway 1 (1976) Thirty Seconds (1980) The Camera Age (1981) Say Goodbye to Sam (1984) The Huntress (2016)
References
External links Michael J. Arlen at Library of Congress Authorities — with 20 catalog records