Richard Milton McKenna was an American sailor and author who turned to writing later in his life. Born in 1913, McKenna spent his early career in military service before transitioning to literature. In the late 1950s, he began writing and publishing science fiction stories, establishing his presence in the speculative fiction landscape of the era.\n\nMcKenna achieved his most significant literary success with the publication of his 1963 historical novel, The Sand Pebbles. The celebrated work draws on naval themes, telling the story of an American sailor serving aboard a gunboat on the Yangtze River in China during the year 1925. The novel became his signature work, published just a year before his death in 1964.
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