The final chapter was completed by Mississippi writer Willie Morris based on extensive notes by the author and taped conversations with him. The final book in the trilogy, Whistle (1978), was published after Jones' death. it was adapted for film twice: first in 1964, starring Keir Dullea and Jack Warden, and then in 1998, starring Sean Penn and Nick Nolte. The title comes from Rudyard Kipling's poem Tommy. The book was lauded for its realistic portrayal of life on the front lines. Jones had killed off one of the four main characters in the first book, so he changed the names of the characters and continued the story.

The second book, The Thin Red Line (1962) was based on his combat experiences on Guadalcanal during the war. The book was the first part of a war trilogy Jones planned to write. It was adapted as a film in 1953 starring Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Cliff, Deborah Kerr, Frank Sinatra, and Donna Reed. The book was based on Jones' experiences in Hawaii just before the beginning of World War II. It is the birthday of writer James Jones (1921), whose first published novel, From Here to Eternity (1951), was an instant bestseller and won the National Book Award in 1952.

Rare Book Moment: Illustrating the classics.

Ida Tarbell exposed Standard Oil monopoly.

James Jones wrote From Here to Eternity.

We're off to shows in Orlando and Miami.

Salisbury wrote of Russia, Vietnam, China.Gordimer wrote of South African apartheid.Happy birthday, Roaring 20s star Ruth Etting.

From here to eternity 1951