I heard a story many years ago about James Michener at a party.  He
made a comment and someone challenged him and said that he couldn't
use a particular word in the way that he was trying to use it.  They
decided to check the meaning of the word in the OED (Oxford English
Dictionary)and when they looked it up, his meaning was one of the uses
listed, citing James Michener's Hawaii as the source.  What was the
word?

Hi there,

You may have had difficulty finding this information because the
dictionary in question was not Oxford, but rather Merriam-Webster.

"When James Michener submitted his book `Hawaii' to Random House, the
editor, Albert Erskine, objected to the word `squushy', saying it `was
not in the dictionary'. When Michener insisted that he would not
change the word, the editor replied: `This is the third argument I've
had this year about the same word. The first was with Robert Pen
Warren; the second was with William Faulkner; and now you... And so
we'll put `squushy' into our Random House Dictionary. He had
overlooked the word in the Merriam-Webster of 1934, but even so a
copy-editor had the arrogance to challenge outstanding writers like
Warren, Faulkner, and Michener." [Allan Walker Read, Approaches to
Lexicography and Semantics, Current Trends in Linguistics, 1970, p.
149]

Taken from A Word A Day, Issue 30:
http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/awadmail30.html

This is the only mention I could find anywhere, on any argument
Michener might have had over a word. However, although most online
dictionaries do not know this word, I did find one. The above quote is
supported by the dictionary I found it in being the Merriam-Webster:
http://www.m-w.com/cgi-bin/dictionary?book=Dictionary&va=squush

Google search used:
"James Michener" Hawaii dictionary word
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&q=%22James+Michener+%22+Hawaii+dictionary+word

I trust this answers your question, best wishes from

robertskelton-ga

---

Request for Answer Clarification by cowabung-ga on 17 Jun 2002 16:43 PDT

I suppose this could be the answer, but the key to the story was
Michener's being able to look up the meaning of the word and seeing
his name as the source.  Unlike the OED, Merriam-Webster doesn't list
usage examples (plus, if squushy was first listed in 1934, it was
before Hawaii was published). I'm sure there are many Michener
anecdotes, so I'm still hoping there is an OED one out there.  If not,
or if no one can find it, I'll be happy to accept this one.
Thanks.

---

Clarification of Answer by robertskelton-ga on 17 Jun 2002 18:19 PDT

Hi again,

I don't believe that the anecdote as you described it is mentioned
anywhere on the Internet. I did a long Google search using just:

Michener dictionary

- two words which would definitely appear in any reference to it, and
came up with nothing.

His official web site didn't have anything, not did a search of Usenet
archives.

I have sent an email to the James A. Michener Society, which is
"composed of people who share a common interest in James Michener's
life and work" and have referred them to this thread. Hopefully
someone from there will be able to add an enlightening comment.

Word also confirmed offline in Random House Unabridged also.

squush: v.t.  1) to squash, v.i. 2) to squish.  Also sqush.
squushy/squushier/squuishiest:  adj. squishy.

V

I searched for Michener quotes on the OED CD-ROM (this is the abridged
or 'Shorter' OED, though.  I can't (yet) afford the full OED on
CD-ROM.)
Anyway, there are 89 entries that contain quotes from Michener's
works, but the word 'squushy' is not one of them.  Here they are:

Assemblage, Bit, Brush, Bulk, Clean, Count, Design, Dispense,
Disrepair, Dote, Dun, Dyke, Enchant, Excavate, Excrescence, Excursion,
Explain, Extinction, Fasten, Fatal, Field, Filigree, Flint,
Forthright, Fructify, Garment, Gird, Goad, Goddess, Graze, Hamper,
Harrowing, Harrumph, Heathen, Herd, Honorific, House, Immediate,
Incubate, Indefensible, Infiltrate, Inherent, Innumerable, Inspection,
Interlock, Introduce, Invest, Iron, Jaw, Judge, Judicious, Justify,
Knightly, Knot, Lavish, Lonely, Loose, Massive, Matted, Maudlin,
Mestizo, Muster, Pack, Pad, Pick, Pincers, Powwow, Prepotent, Raft,
Ramrod, Raze, Reconnoiter, Round, Sanctuary, Scalp, Siege, Simulate,
Sink, Skin, Skittish, Spring, Stanch, Stern, Surge, Thong, Thrift,
Thunderation, Tyrant, & Yearn.

By the way, this CD-ROM OED does not indicate what work of an authors
a quote came from, only the author's name.