Manuscripts Department
Library of the University of North Carolina
at Chapel Hill
SOUTHERN HISTORICAL COLLECTION
#4516
RICHARD M. MCKENNA PAPERS
Inventory
Abstract: Richard M. McKenna (1913-1964) received an A.B.
ffrom the University of North Carolina in 1956. The
Sand Pebbles, his only completed novel, was published
in 1962.
Holograph drafts and carbon copies of typed drafts
of The Sand Pebbles (1962), a novel by McKenna, and a
few other items.
Online Catalog Terms:
American fiction--20th century.
McKenna, Richard M., 1913-1964.
McKenna, Richard M. The sand pebbles.
Size: 12 items (1.0 linear feet).
Provenance: Received from Mrs. Richard M. McKenna of Chapel
Hill, North Carolina, in November 1987 (Acc.
88054) and William Powell of Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, in May 1989 (Acc. 89029).
Access: No restrictions.
Related Collection: Carbon copy of typed draft and galley
proof in the North Carolina Collection.
Copyright: Retained by the authors of items in these papers, or
their descendants, as stipulated by United States
copyright law.
Table of Contents:
Biographical Note
Description
Shelf List
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
Richard M. McKenna was born in Mountain Home, Idaho, in 1913.
Seeking wider opportunities than could be realized in an area
gripped in the early throes of the Great Depression, McKenna
joined the Navy at age 18. He served in the Navy for the next 22
years, including 10 years of active sea duty, chiefly in the Far
East. He participated in World War II and the Korean Conflict.
Having retired from the Navy in 1950, he began his
undergraduate education at the University of North Carolina,
graduating Phi Beta Kappa in 1956 with a B.A. in English
literature. In the same year, he married Eva Mae Grice, a
librarian at the University.
McKenna tried his hand at short story writing, achieving a
moderate amount of success publishing his work in science fiction
magazines. Success on a grander scale was imminent, however. In
1962, Harper & Brothers published The Sand Pebbles, a novel about
men aboard a United States gunboat patrolling the coast of China
in the 1920s. The book draws heavily on McKenna's own later
experiences, and the author was often cited as the model for the
book's protagonist. The Sand Pebbles was both popular and
profitable, winning the $10,000 Harper Prize Novel contest and
being chosen as a Book-of-the-Month Club selection.
The Sand Pebbles was McKenna's only novel. Still not quite
adjusted to his new fame and fortune, McKenna suffered a heart
attack and died in 1964. In 1966, The Sand Pebbles was made into
a motion picture.
DESCRIPTION
Holograph and carbon copies of typed drafts of The Sand
Pebbles. "Ride A Paper Tiger" and "The Paper Tigers" appear to
have been working titles for The Sand Pebbles, although these
titles may also have been used for other, shorter publications.
These papers remain largely in the order in which they were
received. All drafts are undated.
Folder 1 McKenna's Term Report, dated Spring 1955, from the
University of North Carolina.
Carbon copies of two letters with revised text
attached from McKenna to M. S. Wyeth, Jr., at Harper &
Brothers, 2 and 7 May 1962.
2 Holograph draft marked "The Paper Tigers, Part 1."
3 Holograph draft marked "The Paper Tigers, Part 2."
4 Carbon copy of typed draft marked "Ride A Paper
Tiger," chapters 1-6.
5 Carbon copy of typed draft marked "Ride A Paper Tiger,
Version II," chapters 1-12.
6 Carbon copy of typed draft marked "The Paper Tigers,
Part 1," chapters 1-9.
7 Carbon copy of typed draft marked "The Paper Tigers,
Part 2," including 3 drafts of the "Synopsis of Part
II" and 1 draft marked "Chapter 1."
Carbon copy of typed draft marked "The Sand Pebbles":
8 Chapters 9-15
9 Chapters 16-20
10 Chapters 21-27
11 Chapters 28-38
12 Chapters 39-45
SHELF LIST
Box 1. (folders 1-7)
Box 2 (folders 8-12)