 He has written several operas, notably "Nixon in China" (1987), which recounts Richard Nixon's 1972 visit to China; "Doctor Atomic" (2005), which covers Robert Oppenheimer, the Manhattan Project, and the building of the first atomic bomb; and the controversial "The Death of Klinghoffer" (1991), based on the hijacking of the passenger liner "Achille Lauro" by the Palestine Liberation Front in 1985, and the hijackers' murder of 69-year-old Jewish-American passenger Leon Klinghoffer, who used a wheelchair.In addition to the Pulitzer, honors Adams has received include the Erasmus Prize, five Grammy Awards, the Harvard Arts Medal, France's Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and six honorary doctorates.John Adams, in full John Coolidge Adams, was born in Worcester, Massachusetts on February 15, 1947.