Author. He was a novelist and short-story writer. He was the author of the 1959 science-fiction classic, "A Canticle for Leibowitz," which received the 1961 Hugo Award. Born Walter Michael Miller, Jr., he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, participating in the bombing raids that destroyed the historic Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, a personal involvement that may have influenced his decision to convert to Catholicism. Miller wrote from an intensely religious perspective that reflected extreme pessimism about the human prospect, but affirmed the mission of the church. In "A Canticle for Leibowitz," humanity rises from the ashes of a nuclear war only to repeat the mistakes that nearly destroyed it before. Miller suffered from severe depression and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound five months after the death of his wife, Anna Louise Becker Miller. Both were cremated. Their ashes were scattered in Florida's Mosquito Lagoon in April of 1996. Miller's second novel, "Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman," nearly finished when he died, was completed by writer Terry Bisson and published in 1997.
Author. He was a novelist and short-story writer. He was the author of the 1959 science-fiction classic, "A Canticle for Leibowitz," which received the 1961 Hugo Award. Born Walter Michael Miller, Jr., he served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, participating in the bombing raids that destroyed the historic Benedictine monastery at Monte Cassino, a personal involvement that may have influenced his decision to convert to Catholicism. Miller wrote from an intensely religious perspective that reflected extreme pessimism about the human prospect, but affirmed the mission of the church. In "A Canticle for Leibowitz," humanity rises from the ashes of a nuclear war only to repeat the mistakes that nearly destroyed it before. Miller suffered from severe depression and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound five months after the death of his wife, Anna Louise Becker Miller. Both were cremated. Their ashes were scattered in Florida's Mosquito Lagoon in April of 1996. Miller's second novel, "Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman," nearly finished when he died, was completed by writer Terry Bisson and published in 1997.
Bio by: Michael Walter
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