Question: This American author, known for historical fiction, wrote a novel that vividly depicts the Berlin Airlift near its end.  Who is he?

Context articles: Milkweed (novel)
Platz der Luftbrücke (Berlin U-Bahn)
Albert Coady Wedemeyer
A Flight of Chariots
Carolly Erickson
Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin
Gary Blackwood (author)
The Blade of the Courtesans
A Maggot
Leon Uris

Milkweed is a 2003 young adult historical fiction novel by American author Jerry Spinelli.
 The book is about a boy in Warsaw, Poland in the years of World War II during the Holocaust.
 Over time he is taken in by a Jewish group of orphans and he must avoid the Nazis (or "Jackboots") while living on the streets with other orphans.
 The story narrator is the boy in the future living in America recalling his past experiences.
 Despite being a historical fiction novel, Doctor Korczak, a minor character in the story is based on a real person named Janusz Korczak.
Platz der Luftbrücke is a Berlin U-Bahn station located on the U6 .
 It is located under Platz der Luftbrücke and the south end of Mehringdamm on the border between Kreuzberg and Tempelhof, near the former Tempelhof International Airport, and is now named for the square there with its memorial to the victims of the Berlin Airlift.
General Albert Coady Wedemeyer (July 9, 1897 – December 17, 1989) was a United States Army commander who served in Asia during World War II from October 1943 to the end of the war.
 Previously, he was an important member of the War Planning Board which formulated plans for the Invasion of Normandy.
 He was General George Marshall's chief consultant when in the Spring of 1942 he traveled to London with General Marshall and a small group of American military men to consult with the British in an effort to convince the British to support the cross channel invasion.
 Wedemeyer was a staunch anti-communist.
 While in China during the years 1944 to 1945 he was Chiang Kai-shek's Chief of Staff and commanded all American forces in China.
 Wedemeyer supported Chiang's struggle against Mao Zedong and in 1947 President Truman sent him back to China to render a report on what actions the United States should take.
 During the Cold War, Wedemeyer was a chief supporter of the Berlin Airlift.
A Flight of Chariots is a 1963 novel written by Australian author Jon Cleary about two friends who fly planes during the Berlin Airlift and Korean War then become involved in the space program.
Carolly Erickson (born January 1, 1943) is an American author of historical fiction and non-fiction.
 She lives in Hawaii.
 In 2008, her book "The Tsarina's Daughter" won the RT Reader's Choice Award for best Historical Fiction.
Armageddon, or Armageddon: A Novel of Berlin, is a novel by Leon Uris about post-World War II Berlin and Germany.
 The novel starts in London during World War II, and goes through to the Four Power occupation of Berlin and the Soviet blockade by land of the city's western boroughs.
 The description of the Berlin Airlift is quite vivid as is the inter-action between people of the five nations involved as the three major Western Allies rub along with the Soviet occupiers of East Berlin and East Germany.
 The book finishes with the end of the airlift but sets the scene for the following 40 years of Cold War.
Gary Blackwood (born October 23, 1945) is an American author known for "The Shakespeare Stealer" trilogy.
 Born in Meadville, Pennsylvania, Blackwood sold his first story when he was nineteen.
 In 1998, he published "The Shakespeare Stealer", a historical fiction novel about an orphan, Widge, who is sent to steal "Hamlet" from William Shakespeare and The Lord Chamberlain's Men.
 After it won the 1999 ALA Best Book for Young Adults, Blackwood published two sequels, "Shakespeare's Scribe" (2000) and "Shakespeare's Spy" (2003).
 Since then, he has continued writing historical fiction, such as "Around the World in 100 Days" (2010), which the "Smithsonian" named a 2010 Notable Book for Children and "Kirkus Book Reviews" one of 2010's Best Books for Teens.
The Blade of the Courtesans is a historical fiction novel by Japanese author Keiichiro Ryu originally published in 1986.
 It was published in English by Vertical Inc in 2008.
 Ryu's debut novel, it was nominated for a Naoki Award and "instantly made him a doyen of historical fiction."
A Maggot (1985) is a novel by British author John Fowles.
 It is Fowles' sixth major novel, following "The Collector, The Magus, The French Lieutenant's Woman, Daniel Martin," and "Mantissa."
 Its title, as the author explains in the prologue, is taken from the archaic sense of the word that means "whim", "quirk", "obsession", or even a snatch of music (see earworm).
 Another meaning of the word "maggot" becomes apparent later in the novel, used by a character to describe a white, oblong machine that appears to be a spacecraft.
 Though the author denied that "A Maggot" is a historical novel, it does take place during a precise historical timeframe, May 1736 to February 1737, in England.
 It might be variously classified as historical fiction, mystery, or science fiction.
 Because of the narrative style and various metafictional devices, most critics classify it as a postmodern novel.
Leon Marcus Uris (August 3, 1924 – June 21, 2003) was an American author, known for his historical fiction.
 His two bestselling books were "Exodus" (published in 1958) and "Trinity" (published in 1976).