Herman Wouk Is Still . . .

Alive. So says the title of Stephen King’s 2011 short story. What with a personal trainer popping in twice a week, a yoga teacher swinging by another two days, and his banging out books, I’d say Herman Wouk is very much alive.

“The Lawgiver,” his latest work, brackets a career that began when he was a student at Columbia University, the editor of the Jester, the college’s humor magazine, and penning variety shows. A Bronx boy, Wouk was brought up in an Orthodox Jewish home 100 years ago.

Though Wouk has a couple of decades plus on this Jewish writer, I’m from the boroughs too, Brooklyn, my town. I also started writing in college — a stint at part-time schooling that began in my 40s and ended 11 years later — putting me in league, a minor one at that, with Wouk.

Religious teachings at home, a secular education in a public school — Wouk would complain to his father that studying the Talmud, the basic book of Jewish law, “took too much time.” Years later, a B.A. in comparative literature and philosophy from Columbia tucked into his carry case, he announced to his family, “To hell with all that noise [Jewish traditions], I’m going to be a funny man,” and was soon on the payroll of the comedian Fred Allen.

He wrote his first book, “Aurora Dawn,” longhand when he was at sea — a Navy man, Wouk was an officer in World War II. Laying out the high cost of Manhattan’s high life as a young man struggles toward fame and fortune in the early days of radio, the novel established Wouk as an up-and-comer. A Book of the Month Club selection, it led legions of readers to him.

Four years down the road, Wouk took a Pulitzer for “The Caine Mutiny,” his 1951 novel of life on a Navy warship. Also a play, the book was made into a movie starring Humphrey Bogart, who wanted the part of the twitchy, paranoid, ball bearing-clicking Captain Queeg as soon as he read the script, and it won Bogie an Academy Award for his efforts.

“Marjorie Morningstar,” also made into a movie, featured Natalie Wood as a young middle-class Jewish woman who longed to become an actress, and Gene Kelly as her love interest. Wood’s character, a nice Jewish girl nice no more, was punished for her peccadilloes and never got that acting career she so wanted. Wouk homed in on Morningstar’s rebellion against the middle-class values of her family and married her off to a nebbish who “took her as she was, with her deformity . . . that could no longer be helped; a permanent crippling, like a crooked arm,” instead of cute Gene Kelly of the dancing feet.

Deformity? Permanent crippling? Really, Herman? I know it was the ’50s, but cut the girl some slack.

Turns out, Wouk’s sister was ostracized for a similar breach of behavior. And Wouk, true to his craft, his time, and his Judaism, put a writerly spin on it, marrying Morningstar off to a good provider — the sine qua non of a Jewish husband. He gave her kids and a kosher home in the burbs.

Wouk enjoyed his work as a novelist and the recognition it brought, but he wanted something more substantial and was drawn back to his earlier teachings, setting him to write “This Is My God,” a 1959 work of nonfiction that strove to explain the tenets of Judaism to both Jews and non-Jews.

An ardent supporter of Israel, he wrote ads to sell war bonds. On a personal mission, his Jewish heritage becoming essential to both his life and his work — he was a founder of the first synagogue on Fire Island — he meticulously researched World War II and the Holocaust. In the 1970s, “The Winds of War” and “War and Remembrance” became the focus of his talent and effort — “the story I have to tell.”

Stories well told . . . and seen: “The Winds of War,” for which he wrote the screenplay and appeared in a cameo, was made into a TV mini-series and enjoyed by tens of millions of viewers.

Three years ago, his love of satire still strong and his comedic timing still sharp, Wouk invoked his early “funny man” and took on Hollywood with “The Lawgiver,” walking his characters hand-in-hand with his bent for biblical themes. He doesn’t text yet, but he’s no slouch in the high-tech department, using emails, tweets, and Skype transcripts to tell a tale of a fictional group of folks making a movie about Moses.

“Sharply conceived characters, amusing narration, irresistible command of story, and the wisdom of a lifetime,” said Jonathan Karp, his publisher at Simon & Schuster. A fan of Wouk’s from way back, Karp wrote his master’s thesis on Wouk’s novels while a student at N.Y.U.

Asked by Brooks Barnes of The New York Times if he ever planned to stop writing, this uber senior showed no signs of kicking back. “Sometimes, when I’m down,” he said, “I feel like I’ve shot my bolt. But it passes, and I go back to the computer.”

Me too! Right after my nap. Happy birthday, Herman Wouk!

Rita Plush is the author of “Lily Steps Out,” a novel, “Alterations,” a short-story collection, and the forthcoming “Feminine Products.” She lives part time in East Hampton.

Herman Wouk turned 100 on May 27.