Great Writers: CENTENNIAL, James Michener

Published, 1974,1086 pages

Dialectic Journal/Lesson Plans: 488 pages; 191,696 words, visuals

One of the great novelists of the twentieth century, James A. Michener, set one of his best-known novels right here in Colorado. Michener spent a great deal of time in Colorado researching Centennial, renting an apartment in Capitol Hill and also spending much time in the northern part of the state, where the novel is set. Published in 1974, Centennial was adapted as a television mini-series in 1979. Upon giving Colorado the national spotlight on prime-time TV, Centennial is considered to be one of the factors contributing to Colorado’s population boom in the 1970s.
There is a city in Colorado today called Centennial, but this is not the place the novel was based on; rather, the Arapahoe County locale was only incorporated in 2001. Michener placed his Centennial in northern Colorado, mostly based on Greeley. Many of the events depicted in the story, however, were inspired by true events in Colorado’s history.

One of the great novelists of the twentieth century, James A. Michener, set one of his best-known novels right here in Colorado. Michener spent a great deal of time in Colorado researching Centennial, renting an apartment in Capitol Hill and also spending much time in the northern part of the state, where the novel is set. Published in 1974, Centennial was adapted as a television mini-series in 1979. Upon giving Colorado the national spotlight on prime-time TV, Centennial is considered to be one of the factors contributing to Colorado’s population boom in the 1970s.
There is a city in Colorado today called Centennial, but this is not the place the novel was based on; rather, the Arapahoe County locale was only incorporated in 2001. Michener placed his Centennial in northern Colorado, mostly based on Greeley. Many of the events depicted in the story, however, were inspired by true events in Colorado’s history.