Richard M. McKenna - (1913-1964)
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Advanced English III
Emmett High School, Emmett, ID.
I. Personal and Professional Biography
Educated by the tragedies endured in war and poverty, Richard Milton McKenna depicts the realities of combat in his writings. As a novelist, a war veteran, a student and a teacher, McKenna had a brilliant way of relating to all types of readers.
May 9, 1913, Milton Lewis and Lucy (Ertz) McKenna bore a son, Richard Milton McKenna, in Mountain Home, Idaho (Contemporary 359). McKenna, being the eldest of three children, had many responsibilities growing up; however, he always portrayed a definite passion for literature. Born to impoverished parents in a small desert town (Obituary), McKenna did not have the same opportunities that many others did. "Too poor to go to the theater, he regarded the Carnegie Library (now a museum) as a place filled with thousands of free 'movies'" (Friedly). McKenna loved to read. He had a hunger for knowledge and literature. McKenna's life as a literary man continued as he read nearly every book he set his eyes on. He concerned himself with many other activities such as school sports, debate and student politics, as well as keeping his "A" average. McKenna graduated from Mountain Home High School in 1930, after which he attended a year at the College of Idaho (Friedly). Richard McKenna owed a tuition fee of $50, which during the depression was an exorbitant amount.
Forced to set aside his education, McKenna joined the Navy in 1931 to help support his mother and two younger brothers. While in the Navy, McKenna trained as a machinist's mate (Crain). Many said that Richard McKenna was a quiet man who listened more often than talked which gave him the perfect traits for his position (Obituary). With these traits however, there still was little in his manner to suggest the river gunboat sailor that he was (Obituary). McKenna spent two years on the Yangtze River. During this period he heard many first-hand tales about the chaotic years just before his own arrival in China. "Those who knew Mr. McKenna best noted that he used to study his fellow sailors and the Chinese with close and sympathetic attention (Obituary). Aside from the two years assigned to the Yangtse River, ten years of McKenna's life were spent in the Orient. He also worked in the Naval Public Relations Office writing features and new articles (Friedly). McKenna finally retired from his 22-year naval career in 1953 as chief machinist's mate. After leaving the service, 40-year-old McKenna used the GI bill to acquire a Bachelor's degree in English from the University of North Carolina. While at the University, McKenna met and married one of the University's Librarians and moved to Chapel Hill where he build a home and began his writing (Crain).
McKenna, now settling into a peaceful chapter of his life, remained haunted by the tragedies endured through war. The stories and first-hand visions he recalled created more than just mental pictures, but stories that he wanted to share with others. "He began with short stories, being a mainstream writer in thought" (Crain). His success came late but it came abundantly (Obituary). McKenna's miraculous way of depicting the realities of war brought him to his first novel, The Sand Pebbles. McKenna wrote in longhand and despised typing at all costs. His hard work and determination paid off in January of 1963, at the age of 49, when Harper & Row published the novel. The story includes a merger of McKenna's old and new selves. "I've tried to tell the story both through the eyes of the sailor and the sophisticated eyes of the scholar," McKenna once told an interviewer (Obituary). The novel deals with a fictional "group of sailors caught in the revolutionary conflict in human province between 1925 and 1927" (Obituary). In 1963, Richard McKenna's novel won the $10,000 Harper Prize, spent 28 weeks on the New York Time's Best-Seller List, was selected for the Book-of-the-Month Club and was serialized in the Saturday Evening Post (Friedly). The publicity brought by the Book-of-the-Month Club made it a selection for the making of a movie (Obituary). Three years later the movie version of the novel won nine Golden Globe Awards and was nominated for eight Academy Awards (Friedly).
Although The Sand Pebbles was McKenna's only novel (Papers), he attended several Milford Conferences for science fiction writers. He wrote three collections of short stories also published by Harper, which included The Sons of Martha and Other Stories, 1967; Casey Agnostes, and Other Science Fiction and Fantasy Stories, 1973; and Turning Points , 1977. Other publishing includes Tomorrow x 4, Fawcett, 1964; and New Eyes for Old: Nonfiction Writings, Blair, 1972 (Contemporary). The Sons of Martha and Other Stories , McKenna's second book, was published posthumously. It had been intended as his second novel but was never completed due to his sudden death. Richard M. McKenna died at his home, Sunday, November 1, 1964 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina (Crain). McKenna was nearly 51 years of age and "died a tragic and premature death which ended his promising writing career" (Crain). Aside from this tragedy, half of McKenna's science fiction stories were published after his death.
Raised and educated in the Gem State, McKenna returned twice to his hometown, to his desert of rocks and sagebrush, his "Walden." He returned to write and publish his short stories. Although "for some reason Richard McKenna has never been properly recognized as one of the great Idaho authors," said Madarieta, a Mountain Home English Instructor, " yet he is more Idahoan than those who get all the attention" (quoted in Friedly). McKenna has been compared to Melville and Kipling. Those who knew him and those who studied his work believed, had he lived longer, he would have been another Hemingway (Friedly). His legacy lives on, however, through the students at the Richard M. McKenna High School in Mountain Home. The formal dedication of the renamed school took place April 23, 1999.
Richard Milton McKenna is an excellent representative of Idaho's talented authors. His insight into war and poverty, as well as his immense strength and discipline, allow for an easy enjoyment of his writing. McKenna related well to many types of people, from the uneducated and poor to the well-educated and prosperous. Having been raised in a small Idaho town, McKenna had fewer advantages than many of his peers; however, McKenna overcame his detriments and triumphed to become a well-respected, successful "Idaho Author." His perseverance is truly to be admired.
II. Works Cited
Crain, Louise. Vital Statistics: Richard McKenna. 12 March 2001. Spacelight. 5 April 2001
Friedly, Sandy. "The Writer from Mountain Home." Boise Weekly: Arts and Entertainment [Id]. 8 April 1999: 20+.
"McKenna, Richard (Milton) 1913-1964." Contemporary Authors NRS. Ed. Linda Metzger. Vol. 13. Detroit: Gale, 1984. 24-25.
McKenna, Richard. The Sand Pebbles. New York: Harper, 1962.
Richard McKenna Obituary. Associated Press. 1 November 1964. Spacelight. 5 April 2001.
Richard M. McKenna Papers: Inventory. File # 4516. Manuscript Department library of
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.This essay was submitted by a student of Joanne Davis, an English teacher at Emmett High School in Idaho.