James Grover Thurber was an American cartoonist, writer, humorist, journalist and playwright. He was best known for his cartoons and short stories, published mainly in The New Yorker and collected in his numerous books.
South Pacific is a musical composed by Richard Rodgers, with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II and book by Hammerstein and Joshua Logan. The work premiered in 1949 on Broadway and was an immediate hit, running for 1,925 performances. The plot is based on James A. Michener's Pulitzer Prize–winning 1947 book Tales of the South Pacific and combines elements of several of those stories. Rodgers and Hammerstein believed they could write a musical based on Michener's work that would be financially successful and, at the same time, send a strong progressive message on racism.
James Albert Michener was an American writer. He wrote more than 40 books, most of which were long, fictional family sagas covering the lives of many generations, set in particular geographic locales and incorporating detailed history. Many of his works were bestsellers and were chosen by the Book of the Month Club; he was known for the meticulous research that went into his books.
Abbott Joseph Liebling was an American journalist who was closely associated with The New Yorker from 1935 until his death. His New York Times obituary called him "a critic of the daily press, a chronicler of the prize ring, an epicure and a biographer of such diverse personages as Gov. Earl Long of Louisiana and Col. John R. Stingo." He was known for dubbing Chicago the "Second City" and for the aphorism "Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one." Liebling's boxing book The Sweet Science was named the greatest sports book of all time by Sports Illustrated. Liebling was a connoisseur of French cuisine, a subject he wrote about in Between Meals: An Appetite For Paris. Pete Hamill, editor of a Library of America anthology of Liebling's writings, said "He was a gourmand of words, in addition to food... he retained his taste for 'low' culture too: boxers and corner men, conmen and cigar store owners, political hacks and hack operators. They're all celebrated in [his] pages."
Tales of the South Pacific is a Pulitzer Prize-winning collection of sequentially related short stories by James A. Michener about the Pacific campaign in World War II. The stories are based on observations and anecdotes he collected while stationed as a lieutenant commander in the US Navy at the Espiritu Santo Naval Base on the island of Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides Islands.
William Henry "Bully" Hayes was a notorious American ship's captain who engaged in blackbirding in the 1860s and 1870s.
William Charles Mariner was an Englishman who lived in Tonga from 29 November 1806 to (probably) 8 November 1810. He published a memoir, An Account of the Natives of the Tonga Islands, in the South Pacific Ocean, which is one of the major sources of information about Tonga before it was influenced significantly by European cultures and Christianity.
Theodore Pratt (1901–1969) was an American writer who wrote novels set in Florida. He wrote more than 30 novels. Five films were adapted from them.
Armstrong Wells Sperry was an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. His books include historical fiction and biography, often set on sailing ships, and stories of boys from Polynesia, Asia and indigenous American cultures. He is best known for his 1941 Newbery Medal-winning book Call It Courage.
George Lewis Becke was at the turn of the nineteenth century, the most prolific, significant, and internationally renowned Australian-born writer of the South Pacific region. Having lived and worked among Pacific Islands and Islanders as a trader, ship's supercargo, and villager for some two decades, learning languages and observing natural and cultural life, Becke was prompted by J F Archibald of The Bulletin to write down his experiences, eventually becoming a popular and respected author of short stories, novellas, novels, as well as historic and ethnographic works.
Return to Paradise is an American South Seas adventure drama film released by United Artists in 1953. The film was directed by Mark Robson and starred Gary Cooper, Barry Jones and Roberta Haynes. It was based on a short story, "Mr. Morgan", by James Michener in his 1951 short story collection Return to Paradise, his sequel to his 1947 novel Tales of the South Pacific. It was filmed on location in Matautu, Lefaga Western Samoa.
Robert Dean Frisbie was an American writer of travel literature about Polynesia.
Fiji only began producing its own feature films in 2004, and has produced just one to date. Vilsoni Hereniko's The Land Has Eyes (2004) is set in Rotuma and stars indigenous Rotuman actress Sapeta Taito in her début role, alongside New Zealand actress Rena Owen.
Until They Sail is a 1957 American black-and-white CinemaScope drama film directed by Robert Wise and starring Jean Simmons, Joan Fontaine, Paul Newman, Piper Laurie, and Sandra Dee. The screenplay by Robert Anderson, based on a story by James A. Michener included in his 1951 anthology Return to Paradise, focuses on four New Zealand sisters and their relationships with U.S. Marines during World War II.
Beatrice Ethel Grimshaw was an Irish writer and traveller. Beginning in 1903, she worked as a travel writer for the Daily Graphic and The Times, leading her to move to the Territory of Papua, where she served as the informal publicist of Lieutenant Governor Hubert Murray. Prior to her travels, she was the editor of the Social Review, publishing many of her own works under a pen name, and she had worked as a sports journalist for the Irish Cyclist. Over the course of her life, she wrote several novels, travel books, and short stories.
The World Is My Home: A Memoir (1992) is an autobiography written by James A. Michener.
The South Seas genre is a genre of literature, film, or entertainment that is usually escapist fair set in the islands of the southern Pacific Ocean. Stories may sometimes take place in tropic settings like the Caribbean or Bermuda. Many Hollywood films were produced on studio backlots or on Santa Catalina Island. The first feature non documentary film made on location was Lost and Found on a South Sea Island, shot in Tahiti.
Ben Pease or Benjamin Pease, was a notorious blackbirder, engaged in recruiting and kidnapping Pacific Islanders to provide labor for the plantations of Fiji.
Victory is a 1940 American adventure film directed by John Cromwell and starring Fredric March, Cedric Hardwicke and Betty Field. It was based on the popular 1915 novel by Joseph Conrad. On the eve of the American entry into World War II, Conrad's story of a hermit on an island invaded by thugs was refashioned into a call for intervention in the war in Europe at the height of American isolationism.
Paradise Beverages (Fiji) Limited is a Fijian alcoholic beverage producer based in Suva. It is a publicly listed company on the South Pacific Stock Exchange.
