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{{short description|American journalist (1940–2016)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2015}}
{{Infobox person
{{Infobox person
| name = Michael Herr
| name = Michael Herr
| birth_name = Michael David Herr
| birth_name = Michael David Herr
| birth_date = 13 April 1940
| birth_date = {{birth date|1940|4|13}}
| birth_place = [[Lexington, Kentucky]], U.S
| birth_place = [[Lexington, Kentucky]], U.S
| death_place = [[Delhi (town), New York|Delhi, New York]], U.S
| death_place = [[Delhi (town), New York|Delhi, New York]], U.S
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|06|23|1940|04|13|df=yes}}
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2016|06|23|1940|04|13}}
| spouse = Valerie
| spouse = Valerie
⚫
| occupation = Writer
| relatives=Judy Bleyer, Amy Bleyer, Doran Kaufman
| notable_works = ''[[Dispatches (book)|Dispatches]]'' (1977)<br>''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' (1979)<br>''[[Full Metal Jacket (film)|Full Metal Jacket]]'' (1987)
⚫
| occupation = Writer, [[war correspondent]]
| notable_works = ''[[Dispatches (book)|Dispatches]]''<br> (1977)
}}
}}
'''Michael David Herr'''<ref name=waspot1>https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/michael-herr-who-wrote-powerfully-about-vietnam-in-dispatches-dies-at-76/2016/06/24/ac9c0e58-3a2e-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html</ref> (April 13, 1940 – June 23, 2016) was an American writer and [[war correspondent]], known as the author of ''[[Dispatches (book)|Dispatches]]'' (1977), a memoir of his time as a correspondent for ''[[Esquire magazine]]'' (1967–1969) during the [[Vietnam War]]. The book was called the best "to have been written about the Vietnam War" by ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]''; novelist [[John le Carré]] called it "the best book I have ever read on men and war in our time." Herr later was credited with pioneering{{dubious|date=March 2015}} the literary genre of the [[nonfiction novel]], along with authors such as [[Truman Capote]], [[Norman Mailer]], and [[Tom Wolfe]].
'''Michael David Herr'''<ref name=waspot1>{{Cite news|first=Adam|last=Bernstein|date=2016-06-24| url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/books/michael-herr-who-wrote-powerfully-about-vietnam-in-dispatches-dies-at-76/2016/06/24/ac9c0e58-3a2e-11e6-9ccd-d6005beac8b3_story.html | newspaper=The Washington Post|title=Vietnam War reporter Michael Herr, who helped write 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Full Metal Jacket,' dies at 76}}</ref> (April 13, 1940 – June 23, 2016) was an American writer and [[war correspondent]], known as the author of ''[[Dispatches (book)|Dispatches]]'' (1977), a memoir of his time as a correspondent for ''[[Esquire (magazine)|Esquire]]'' (1967–1969) during the [[Vietnam War]]. The book was called "the best book to have been written about the Vietnam War" by fellow author C.D.B. Bryan in his review for ''[[The New York Times Book Review]]''. Novelist [[John le Carré]] called it "the best book I have ever read on men and war in our time."


==Life and career==
==Life and career==
Herr was born in Lexington, Kentucky, the son of a jeweler, and grew up in Syracuse, New York. His family was Jewish.<ref name=waspot1/> After working with ''Esquire'' in the 1960s, from 1971 to 1975 he published nothing. Then, in 1977, he went on the road with rock and roller [[Ted Nugent]] and wrote about the experience in a 1978 cover story for ''[[Crawdaddy!|Crawdaddy]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19780322&id=5J8oAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hykEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3297,1015954 |title=Rock Beat |publisher= Milwaukee Journal |date= March 22, 1978}}</ref> Also in 1977, he published ''Dispatches'', upon which his reputation mostly rests.
Herr was born in [[Lexington, Kentucky]], the son of a jeweler, and grew up in Syracuse, New York. His family was Jewish.<ref name=waspot1/> After working with ''Esquire'' in the 1960s, from 1971 to 1975 he published nothing. Then, in 1977, he went on the road with rock and roller [[Ted Nugent]] and wrote about the experience in a 1978 cover story for ''[[Crawdaddy!|Crawdaddy]]'' magazine.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19780322&id=5J8oAAAAIBAJ&pg=3297,1015954 |title=Rock Beat |work=Milwaukee Journal |date=March 22, 1978 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Also in 1977, he published ''Dispatches'', upon which his reputation mostly rests.


Herr was credited in the film for writing the narration for [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s 1997 film ''[[The Rainmaker (1997 film)|The Rainmaker]]''.
Herr contributed to the narration for [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s ''[[Apocalypse Now]]'' (1979). He co-wrote the screenplay for the film ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'' (1987) with director [[Stanley Kubrick]] and author [[Gustav Hasford]]. That film was based on Hasford's novel ''[[The Short-Timers]]'' and the screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award. Herr collaborated with [[Richard Stanley (film director)|Richard Stanley]] in writing the original screenplay for the 1996 film ''[[The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film)|The Island of Dr. Moreau]]'' based on the [[H.G. Wells]] novel of the same name. However, Stanley claims the subsequent rewrites cost Herr his writing credit, omitting most of the material created by the two writers.
He had previously contributed to the narration for Coppola's 1979 film ''[[Apocalypse Now]]''. He co-wrote the screenplay for the film ''[[Full Metal Jacket]]'' (1987) with director [[Stanley Kubrick]] and author [[Gustav Hasford]]. That film was based on Hasford's novel ''[[The Short-Timers]]'' and the screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award. Herr collaborated with [[Richard Stanley (film director)|Richard Stanley]] in writing the original screenplay for the 1996 film ''[[The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996 film)|The Island of Dr. Moreau]]'' based on the [[H.G. Wells]] novel of the same name. However, Stanley claims the subsequent rewrites cost Herr his writing credit, omitting most of the material created by the two writers.


Herr wrote a pair of articles for ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' about Stanley Kubrick, which were later incorporated into the small book – ''Kubrick'' (2000) – a very personal biography of the director. He declined to edit the script of Kubrick's last film ''[[Eyes Wide Shut]]'' (1999).<ref>{{cite web|last=Herr |first=Michael |title=Kubrick |url=http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/classic/features/kubrick-199908 |publisher=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |accessdate=2012-06-02 |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/687Z4H738?url=http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/classic/features/kubrick-199908.print |archivedate=June 2, 2012 |date=August 1999 |deadurl=yes |df= }}</ref>
Herr wrote a pair of articles for ''[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]'' about Stanley Kubrick, which were later incorporated into the short book ''Kubrick'' (2000), a personal biography of the director. He declined to edit the script of Kubrick's last film ''[[Eyes Wide Shut]]'' (1999).<ref>{{cite web|last=Herr |first=Michael |title=Kubrick |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/classic/features/kubrick-199908 |website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]] |access-date=2012-06-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120629212013/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/classic/features/kubrick-199908.print |archive-date=June 29, 2012 |date=August 1999 |url-status=dead }}</ref>


Herr lived with his wife Valerie in [[Delhi (town), New York|Delhi, New York]], until his death on June 23, 2016, at the age of 76.<ref>[http://deadline.com/2016/06/michael-herr-dead-vietnam-war-dispatches-full-metal-jacket-1201778938/ Michael Herr Dies: ‘Dispatches’ Author & ‘Full Metal Jacket’ Co-Writer Was 76]</ref>
Herr lived with his wife Valerie in [[Delhi (town), New York|Delhi, New York]], until his death on June 23, 2016, at the age of 76.<ref>[https://deadline.com/2016/06/michael-herr-dead-vietnam-war-dispatches-full-metal-jacket-1201778938/ Michael Herr Dies: ''Dispatches'' Author & ''Full Metal Jacket'' Co-Writer Was 76]</ref>


==Publications==
==Publications==
* ''[[Dispatches (book)|Dispatches]]'' (1977) {{ISBN|0-679-73525-9}}
* ''[[Dispatches (book)|Dispatches]]'' (1977) {{ISBN|0-679-73525-9}}
* ''The Big Room: Forty-Eight Portraits from the Golden Age'' (1987) (with Guy Peellaert) {{ISBN|0-671-63028-8}} (stories about Hollywood personalities including Judy Garland, Howard Hughes, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Walter Winchell)
* ''The Big Room: Forty-Eight Portraits from the Golden Age'' (1987) (with Guy Peellaert) {{ISBN|0-671-63028-8}} (stories about Hollywood personalities including Judy Garland, Howard Hughes, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Walter Winchell)
* ''Walter Winchell: A Novel'' (1990) {{ISBN|0-679-73393-0}} ([[biographical novel]] about the newsman [[Walter Winchell]])
* ''Walter Winchell: A Novel'' (1990) {{ISBN|0-679-73393-0}} ([[biographical novel]] about the newsman [[Walter Winchell]])<ref>{{cite news|author=Rascoe, Judith|title=Review of ''Walter Winchell: A Novel'' by Michael Herr|newspaper=NY Times|date=20 May 1990|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/05/20/books/american-gossip.html}}</ref>
* ''Kubrick'' (Grove, 2000) {{ISBN|0-8021-3818-7}} (based on essay for ''Vanity Fair'')
* ''Kubrick'' (Grove, 2000) {{ISBN|0-8021-3818-7}} (based on essay for ''Vanity Fair'')


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==External links==
==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
* {{IMDb name|0380282|name=Michael Herr}}
*{{IMDb name|0380282|name=Michael Herr}}
* [http://www.everythingisundercontrol.org/nagtloper/write/moreauscript.html A draft of The Island of Dr Moreau screenplay, dated April 26th, 1994]
*[http://www.everythingisundercontrol.org/nagtloper/write/moreauscript.html A draft of The Island of Dr Moreau screenplay, dated April 26th, 1994]
*{{YouTube|4DMbq0TuSqs|Interview with Michael Herr about the essence of war}}. Scene taken from the documentary [[First Kill]] about Herr's book ''Dispatches''.
*{{YouTube|4DMbq0TuSqs|Interview with Michael Herr}}: Why he went to Vietnam as a war reporter
*{{YouTube|4DMbq0TuSqs|Interview with Michael Herr about the essence of war}}. Scene taken from the documentary [[First Kill (2001 film)|First Kill]] about Herr's book ''Dispatches''.
*[http://www.cjr.org/second_read/what_it_was_like.php?page=all&print=true Article about Herr in Columbia Journalism Review]
*[https://www.cjr.org/second_read/what_it_was_like.php?page=all&print=true Article about Herr in Columbia Journalism Review]


{{Vietnam War correspondents}}
{{Vietnam War correspondents}}
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[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Syracuse, New York]]
[[Category:writers from Lexington, Kentucky]]
[[Category:Nottingham High School (Syracuse, New York) alumni]]
[[Category:20th-century American journalists]]
[[Category:American war correspondents]]
[[Category:American male journalists]]
[[Category:20th-century American male writers]]
[[Category:American male non-fiction writers]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:American male screenwriters]]
[[Category:War correspondents of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:American war correspondents of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:American people of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:Jewish American journalists]]
[[Category:Postmodern writers]]
[[Category:Journalists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Journalists from New York]]
[[Category:Nottingham High School (New York) alumni]]
[[Category:American postmodern writers]]
[[Category:Screenwriters from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Writers from Syracuse, New York]]
[[Category:21st-century American Jews]]

Latest revision as of 04:47, 14 September 2024

Michael Herr
Born
Michael David Herr

(1940-04-13)April 13, 1940
Lexington, Kentucky, U.S
DiedJune 23, 2016(2016-06-23) (aged 76)
Delhi, New York, U.S
OccupationWriter
Notable workDispatches (1977)
Apocalypse Now (1979)
Full Metal Jacket (1987)
SpouseValerie

Michael David Herr[1] (April 13, 1940 – June 23, 2016) was an American writer and war correspondent, known as the author of Dispatches (1977), a memoir of his time as a correspondent for Esquire (1967–1969) during the Vietnam War. The book was called "the best book to have been written about the Vietnam War" by fellow author C.D.B. Bryan in his review for The New York Times Book Review. Novelist John le Carré called it "the best book I have ever read on men and war in our time."

Life and career

[edit]

Herr was born in Lexington, Kentucky, the son of a jeweler, and grew up in Syracuse, New York. His family was Jewish.[1] After working with Esquire in the 1960s, from 1971 to 1975 he published nothing. Then, in 1977, he went on the road with rock and roller Ted Nugent and wrote about the experience in a 1978 cover story for Crawdaddy magazine.[2] Also in 1977, he published Dispatches, upon which his reputation mostly rests.

Herr was credited in the film for writing the narration for Francis Ford Coppola's 1997 film The Rainmaker. He had previously contributed to the narration for Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now. He co-wrote the screenplay for the film Full Metal Jacket (1987) with director Stanley Kubrick and author Gustav Hasford. That film was based on Hasford's novel The Short-Timers and the screenplay was nominated for an Academy Award. Herr collaborated with Richard Stanley in writing the original screenplay for the 1996 film The Island of Dr. Moreau based on the H.G. Wells novel of the same name. However, Stanley claims the subsequent rewrites cost Herr his writing credit, omitting most of the material created by the two writers.

Herr wrote a pair of articles for Vanity Fair about Stanley Kubrick, which were later incorporated into the short book Kubrick (2000), a personal biography of the director. He declined to edit the script of Kubrick's last film Eyes Wide Shut (1999).[3]

Herr lived with his wife Valerie in Delhi, New York, until his death on June 23, 2016, at the age of 76.[4]

Publications

[edit]
  • Dispatches (1977) ISBN 0-679-73525-9
  • The Big Room: Forty-Eight Portraits from the Golden Age (1987) (with Guy Peellaert) ISBN 0-671-63028-8 (stories about Hollywood personalities including Judy Garland, Howard Hughes, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra and Walter Winchell)
  • Walter Winchell: A Novel (1990) ISBN 0-679-73393-0 (biographical novel about the newsman Walter Winchell)[5]
  • Kubrick (Grove, 2000) ISBN 0-8021-3818-7 (based on essay for Vanity Fair)

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Bernstein, Adam (June 24, 2016). "Vietnam War reporter Michael Herr, who helped write 'Apocalypse Now' and 'Full Metal Jacket,' dies at 76". The Washington Post.
  2. ^ "Rock Beat". Milwaukee Journal. March 22, 1978.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ Herr, Michael (August 1999). "Kubrick". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on June 29, 2012. Retrieved June 2, 2012.
  4. ^ Michael Herr Dies: Dispatches Author & Full Metal Jacket Co-Writer Was 76
  5. ^ Rascoe, Judith (May 20, 1990). "Review of Walter Winchell: A Novel by Michael Herr". NY Times.
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to Michael Herr.
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