James Dudley Houston Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
James Dudley Houston (November 10, 1933 – April 16, 2009) was an American novelist. He wrote nine novels in total.Houston was born in San Francisco, where his parents had migrated from Quanah, Texas, a small town near Oklahoma. Their story kindled an interest in treks and quests that intensified when he met his future wife, Jeanne Wakatsuki, whose family had immigrated to California from Japan.He attended Lowell High School and San José State University where he met Jeanne Wakatsuki, whom he would marry in 1957. Houston co-authored his wife's autobiographical memoir, Farewell to Manzanar, about her experiences in the Manzanar internment camp. The book became a bestseller after it was published in 1973.Houston was the winner of two American Book Awards, a Joseph Henry Jackson Award for Fiction and the Humanitas Prize. Snow Mountain Passage (2001) was inspired by a personal link to the ill-fated Donner Party of early Californian history.
Except for his years in the Air Force, he lived in California his entire life, mostly in Santa Cruz. California is the setting of most of his novels. Hawaii also inspired some of his fiction and non-fiction.
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In addition to writing, he also earned money by playing and teaching guitar.
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He received a master's degree in American literature at Stanford University in 1962.
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He served three years in the Air Force with a NATO tactical bomber unit in Great Britain. While he was stationed there, he began writing stories. His first novel, "Between Battles", is about a pilot at a NATO air station in Britain.
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His wife, a Japanese American (maiden name Wakatsuki), spent WWII at the internment camp in Manzanar, California. Her experiences there were the basis for his book "Farewell to Manzanar".
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He earned a Bachelor's Degree in Drama from San Jose State University in 1956 in San Jose, California.
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He is survived by three children: Joshua Houston of Honolulu, Hawaii; Corinne Houston Traugott and Gabrielle Houston Neville both of Santa Cruz, California.
Won Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1976
Humanitas Prize
Humanitas Prize
90 Minute Category
Farewell to Manzanar (1976)
Nominated Awards
Year
Award
Ceremony
Nomination
Movie
1976
Primetime Emmy
Primetime Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Special Program - Drama or Comedy - Adaptation
$1.7 Million