On May 27, 1915, the writer Herman Wouk was born, who died in May 2019 shortly after his 104th birthday. Among his best-known writings are “The Mutiny of the Caine” and “A Girl of Our Time” (“Marjorie Morningstar”), among another dozen.
Wouk is one of those writers who did not study at universities but has been phenomenally successful among his readers. Not a few people from the 70s and 80s learned what they knew about the history of World War II thanks to two great novels of his on the subject: “The Winds of War” (1971) and “War and Memory” (1978 ), and of the two miniseries based on them.
He has also been a popular novelist who has always been proud and open about his identity as an observant Jew, and has been consistent in fighting for the morality of patriotism, discipline, and chastity.
Wouk was married to Betty Sarah Wouk, who was also his literary agent, until she passed away in 2011. The couple had three children, one of whom died in a water accident at age five, Israeli media outlet Haaretz reported.