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Miller, Merle

 Person

Dates

  • Existence: 1919-1986

Biography

Merle Miller (1919 -- 1986) was born in Montour, Iowa. He grew up in Marshalltown, Iowa, and attended the University of Iowa. There he worked as the city editor on the Daily Iowan. He did not graduate, as he refused to take the swimming and R.O.T.C. courses required at that time. He was a correspondent for the Philadelphia Record before joining the Army in 1941. Seeing action in both the European and Pacific theatres, he became an editor of the miliatry magazine, Yank. After the war, Miller was for a short while a contributing editor to Time and an editor at Harpers. He also worked as a television script writer before being blacklisted during the McCarthy era. Miller is best known as a novelist and a biographer. He wrote biographies of three presidents, Truman, Eisenhower and Johnson. His other books include Island 49, That Winter, Reunion, and A Day in Late September.

Found in 1 Collection or Record:

Merle Miller Papers

 Collection
Identifier: MsC0660
Abstract

Editor at Yank, Time and Harper's, biographer of presidents, script writer, and novelist. Drafts, correspondence, printer's copies, and reviews for four of his books; the materials for The Sure Thing (1953) are extensive.

Dates: 1948 - 1961; Majority of material found in 1953