February 3, 2023, will be the 116th anniversary of James Michener’s birth. He had what was undoubtedly a hardscrabble childhood and yet had fond memories of his hometown. Following is the conclusion of an essay he wrote in 1987 entitled “The Doylestown of My Early Years.”
“We had in our town the county jail where mysterious things happened, and the two great Mercer castles, which made Doylestown distinctive. It was a lively place for a boyhood and it enhanced whatever propensities I had for study, for scholarship and for a life of the imagination. I grew up believing that I lived in a town which was enormously superior to more reckless towns like Lambertville across the river in New Jersey and Lansdale, almost a metropolis, to the west. We were also much more stable than Easton, far to the north, but we were perpetually seduced by the really major city of Philadelphia to the south. That we could easily get to its fine stores, theaters, concerts and museums made Doylestown not only a rural retreat but also a participant in the grandeur of the world.
As I look back upon those exciting days I’d say that fifty-five percent of my character was formed by what happened in Doylestown, forty-five percent, including my attraction to the arts, by my experiences in Philadelphia, and that’s a heady mix for any young fellow.”
NOTE: The original typewritten version of this essay is in the Doylestown Historical Society collection. To read a complete detailed transcription go to http://www.doylestownhistorical.org/MichenerAndDtown.pdf.
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