New Eyes for Old: Nonfiction Writings

by Richard McKenna

Richard McKenna won his fame as a writer of fiction. In a short but brilliant career he turned out one best-selling novel, The Sand Pebbles, and a number of short stories, and at his death in 1964 he had completed one-third of a second novel.

143 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1972

About the author

RICHARD MCKENNA was born and raised in the small desert town of Mountain Home, Idaho. In 1931, at the age of eighteen, he enlisted in the United States Navy and served for ten years in Asia. Two of those years were on a Yangtze River gunboat. During this time he heard many firsthand accounts of the 1925-1927 Chinese Revolution which he put to use in The Sand Pebbles.

Mr. McKenna, a machinist's mate, served in World War II on a large troop transport operating on all oceans, and stayed on through the Korean War on a destroyer. In 1953 he retired from the Navy after twenty-two years of service and entered the University of North Carolina. He received his degree in English in 1956, married one of the university librarians, and settled down in Chapel Hill to become a writer. He wrote short stories for the Saturday Evening Post, Argosy and other magazines. The Sand Pebbles was his first novel.

Mr. McKenna died unexpectedly from a coronary in 1964.

Reviews

[Sully Augustine · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 stars out of 5 - I read a library hardback over the past few evenings. It's mostly a collection of speeches about his education and writing experience. A couple of the pieces, especially the one specifically about the conception and writing of The Sand Pebbles, were very interesting but most were a struggle to get through.