Michael John Arlen (born December 9, 1930,

London, England London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a major s ...

) 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 ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

''.

Early life

Arlen is the son of a British-Armenian writer,

Michael Arlen Michael Arlen (16 November 1895 – 23 June 1956), born Dikran Kouyoumdjian ( hy, Տիգրան Գոյումճեան), was a British essayist, short story writer, novelist, playwright, and scriptwriter of Armenians, Armenian origin, who had his ...

, and former Countess Atalanta Mercati of Athens, Greece. His early childhood was spent with his family in Cannes, in the South of France. At the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, he was at

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. As they have existed for many centuries, and now exten ...

in England and went with his school to join a Canadian school in Ottawa, Canada. Later he transferred to St. Paul's School, Concord, NH, after which he went to

Harvard College Harvard College is the undergraduate college of Harvard University, an Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636, Harvard College is the original school of Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher lea ...

, where he was a co-President of

The Harvard Lampoon ''The Harvard Lampoon'' is an undergraduate humor publication founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates at Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Overview The ''Harvard Lampoon'' publication was founded in 1876 by seven undergraduates ...

and graduated in 1952.

Career

Arlen worked as a reporter on ''Life'' for five years, from 1952 to 1957, 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. The book's title, a term Arlen coined, has gone on to be heavily referenced in academic and journalistic writing. His two best-known books are ''Exiles'' (focused on his childhood in the South of France) and ''Passage to Ararat'' (about his Armenian heritage), 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.

Personal life

Arlen has four children from his first marriage. He married a second time, to screenwriter

Alice Albright Alice Arlen (November 6, 1940 – February 29, 2016) was an American screenwriter, best known for '' Silkwood'' (1983), which she wrote with Nora Ephron. Her other film credits include the scripts of ''Alamo Bay'' (1985), '' Cookie'' (1989), '' T ...

, 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 The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

Authorities — with 20 catalog records {{DEFAULTSORT:Arlen, Michael J. American television critics The New Yorker staff writers Life (magazine) photojournalists War writers 20th-century American journalists 20th-century American memoirists American people of Armenian descent National Book Award winners The Harvard Lampoon alumni Harvard College alumni Writers from London English emigrants to the United States British people of Armenian descent English people of Armenian descent English people of American descent 1930 births Living people