Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the

Old West The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...

or contemporary

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

.Hugh Rawson
"Screenings," ''American Heritage'', April/May 2006. His novels included ''

Horseman, Pass By ''Horseman, Pass By'' is a 1961 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. McMurtry's debut novel, it portrays life on a cattle ranch from the perspective of young narrator Lonnie Bannon. Set in Texas in 1954, the Bannon ranch is owned by L ...

'' (1962), '' The Last Picture Show'' (1966), and '' Terms of Endearment'' (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34

Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...

nominations (13 wins). His 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel ''

Lonesome Dove ''Lonesome Dove'' is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the ''Lonesome Dove'' series, but the third installment in the series chronologically. The story revolves around the relationships b ...

'' was adapted into a television miniseries that earned 18 Emmy Award nominations (seven wins). The subsequent three novels in his ''Lonesome Dove'' series were adapted as three more miniseries, earning eight more Emmy nominations. McMurtry and cowriter Diana Ossana adapted the screenplay for '' Brokeback Mountain'' (2005), which earned eight Academy Award nominations with three wins, including McMurtry and Ossana for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2014, McMurtry received the

National Humanities Medal The National Humanities Medal is an American award that annually recognizes several individuals, groups, or institutions for work that has "deepened the nation's understanding of the humanities, broadened our citizens' engagement with the human ...

Early life and education

McMurtry was born in

Archer City, Texas Archer City is a city in and the county seat of Archer County, Texas, United States. The city lies at the junction of State Highway 79 and State Highway 25. It is located 25 miles (40 km) south of Wichita Falls, and is part of the Wichit ...

, 25 miles from

Wichita Falls Wichita Falls ( ) is a city in and the seat of government of Wichita County, Texas, United States. It is the principal city of the Wichita Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area, which encompasses all of Archer, Clay, and Wichita counties. According ...

, the son of Hazel Ruth (née McIver) and William Jefferson McMurtry. He grew up on his parents' ranch outside Archer City. The city was the model for the town of Thalia which is a setting for much of his fiction. He earned a BA from the

University of North Texas The University of North Texas (UNT) is a public research university in Denton, Texas. It was founded as a nonsectarian, coeducational, private teachers college in 1890 and was formally adopted by the state 11 years later."Denton Normal School, ...

in 1958 and an MA from

Rice University William Marsh Rice University (Rice University) is a private research university in Houston, Texas. It is on a 300-acre campus near the Houston Museum District and adjacent to the Texas Medical Center. Rice is ranked among the top universities ...

in 1960. In his memoir, McMurtry said that during his first five or six years in his grandfather's ranch house, there were no books, but his extended family would sit on the front porch every night and tell stories. In 1942, McMurtry's cousin Robert Hilburn stopped by the ranch house on his way to enlist for World War II, and left a box containing 19 boys' adventure books from the 1930s. The first book he read was ''Sergeant Silk: The Prairie Scout''.

Career

Writer

During the 1960–1961 academic year, McMurtry was a Wallace Stegner Fellow at the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, where he studied the craft of fiction under Frank O'Connor and Malcolm Cowley, alongside other aspiring writers, including Wendell Berry,

Ken Kesey Ken Elton Kesey (September 17, 1935 – November 10, 2001) was an American novelist, essayist and countercultural figure. He considered himself a link between the Beat Generation of the 1950s and the hippies of the 1960s. Kesey was born in ...

, Peter S. Beagle, and Gurney Norman. Wallace Stegner was on sabbatical in Europe during McMurtry's fellowship year. McMurtry and Kesey remained friends after McMurtry left California and returned to Texas to take a year-long composition instructorship at

Texas Christian University Texas Christian University (TCU) is a private research university in Fort Worth, Texas. It was established in 1873 by brothers Addison and Randolph Clark as the Add-Ran Male & Female College. It is affiliated with the Christian Church (Disciple ...

. In 1963, he returned to Rice University, where he served as a lecturer in English until 1969. He entertained some of his early students with accounts of Hollywood and the filming of '' Hud'', for which he was consulting. In 1964, Kesey and his

Merry Pranksters The Merry Pranksters were comrades and followers of American author Ken Kesey in 1964. Ken Kesey and the Merry Pranksters lived communally at Kesey's homes in California and Oregon, and are noted for the sociological significance of a lengthy roa ...

conducted their noted cross-country trip, stopping at McMurtry's home in Houston. The adventure in the day-glo-painted school bus '' Furthur'' was chronicled by Tom Wolfe in his book ''

The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test ''The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'' is a 1968 nonfiction book by Tom Wolfe. The book is a popular example of the New Journalism literary style. Wolfe presents a firsthand account of the experiences of Ken Kesey and his band of Merry Pranksters, ...

''. That same year, McMurtry was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. McMurtry won numerous awards from the

Texas Institute of Letters The Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit Honor Society founded by William Harvey Vann in 1936 to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. The TIL’s elected membership consists of the state’s most respe ...

: three times the Jesse H. Jones Award—in 1962, for ''Horseman, Pass By''; in 1967, for ''The Last Picture Show'', which he shared with Tom Pendleton's ''The Iron Orchard''; and in 1986, for ''Lonesome Dove''. He won the Amon G. Carter award for periodical prose in 1966 for ''Texas: Good Times Gone or Here Again?'' and the Lon Tinkle Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1984. In 1986, McMurtry received the annual Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award from the Tulsa Library Trust. He reflected on his 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, ''Lonesome Dove'', in ''Literary Life: A Second Memoir'' (2009), writing that it was the "''

Gone With the Wind Gone with the Wind most often refers to: * ''Gone with the Wind'' (novel), a 1936 novel by Margaret Mitchell * ''Gone with the Wind'' (film), the 1939 adaptation of the novel Gone with the Wind may also refer to: Music * ''Gone with the Wind'' ...

'' of the West … a pretty good book; it's not a towering masterpiece." McMurtry described his method for writing novels in ''Books: A Memoir''. He said that from his first novel on, he would get up early and dash off five pages of narrative. When he published the memoir in 2008, he said this was still his method, although by then, he wrote 10 pages a day. He also wrote every day, ignoring holidays and weekends. McMurtry was a regular contributor to ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

''. McMurtry was a vigorous defender of free speech and, while serving as president of PEN American Center (now PEN America) from 1989 to 1991, led the organization's efforts to support writer Salman Rushdie, whose novel ''

The Satanic Verses ''The Satanic Verses'' is the fourth novel of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie. First published in September 1988, the book was inspired by the life of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. As with his previous books, Rushdie used magical realism ...

'' (1988) caused a major controversy among some

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

, with the

Supreme Leader of Iran The Supreme Leader of Iran ( fa, رهبر ایران, rahbar-e irān) is the head of state of the Islamic Republic of Iran. The Supreme Leader directs the executive system and judicial system of the Islamic theocratic government and is the co ...

, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, issuing a ''

fatwā A fatwā ( ; ar, فتوى; plural ''fatāwā'' ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (''sharia'') given by a qualified '' Faqih'' (Islamic jurist) in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist ...

'' calling for Rushdie's assassination, after which attempts were made on his life. In 1989, McMurtry testified on behalf of PEN America before the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

in opposition to immigration rules in the 1952 McCarran–Walter Act that for decades permitted the visa denial and deportation of foreign writers for ideological reasons. He recounted how before PEN America was to host the 1986 International PEN Congress, "there was a serious question as to whether such a meeting could in fact take place in this country... the McCarran–Walter Act could have effectively prevented such a gathering in the United States." He denounced the relevant rules as "an affront to all who cherish the constitutional guarantees of freedom of expression and association. To a writer whose living depends upon the uninhibited interchange of ideas and experiences, these provisions are especially appalling." Subsequently, some provisions that excluded certain classes of immigrants based on their political beliefs were revoked by the Immigration Act of 1990.

Antiquarian bookstore businesses

While at Stanford, McMurtry became a rare-book scout. During his years in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

, he managed a book store called the Bookman. In 1969, he moved to the Washington, D.C., area. In 1970 with two partners, he started a bookshop in Georgetown, which he named Booked Up. In 1988, he opened another Booked Up in Archer City. It became one of the largest antiquarian bookstores in the United States, carrying between 400,000 and 450,000 titles. Citing economic pressures from Internet bookselling, McMurtry came close to shutting down the Archer City store in 2005, but chose to keep it open after great public support. In early 2012, McMurtry decided to downsize and sell off the greater portion of his inventory. He felt the collection was a liability for his heirs. The auction was conducted on August 10 and 11, 2012, and was overseen by Addison and Sarova Auctioneers of Macon, Georgia. This epic book auction sold books by the shelf, and was billed as "The Last Booksale", in keeping with the title of McMurtry's ''The Last Picture Show''. Dealers, collectors, and gawkers came out ''en masse'' from all over the country to witness this historic auction. As stated by McMurtry on the weekend of the sale, "I've never seen that many people lined up in Archer City, and I'm sure I never will again." Booked Up In Archer City

Film and television

McMurtry became well known for the film adaptations of his work, which were seen by many viewers, especially '' Hud'' (from the novel ''

''), starring Paul Newman and

Patricia Neal Patricia Neal (born Patsy Louise Neal, January 20, 1926 – August 8, 2010) was an American actress of stage and screen. A major star of the 1950s and 1960s, she was the recipient of an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Tony Award, and two ...

; the

Peter Bogdanovich Peter Bogdanovich (July 30, 1939 – January 6, 2022) was an American director, writer, actor, producer, critic, and film historian. One of the " New Hollywood" directors, Bogdanovich started as a film journalist until he was hired to work on ...

–directed '' The Last Picture Show''; James L. Brooks's '' Terms of Endearment'', which won five Academy Awards, including Best Picture (1984); and ''

'', which became a popular television miniseries starring Tommy Lee Jones and

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor and filmmaker. His career spans more than seven decades and he is considered one of the greatest American actors of all time. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, four Gold ...

. In 2006, he was co-winner (with Diana Ossana) of both the Best Screenplay Golden Globe and the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

for Best Adapted Screenplay for ''Brokeback Mountain,'' adapted from a short story by

E. Annie Proulx E is the fifth letter of the Latin alphabet. E or e may also refer to: Commerce and transportation * €, the symbol for the euro, the European Union's standard currency unit * ℮, the estimated sign, an EU symbol indicating that the weigh ...

. He accepted his Oscar while wearing a dinner jacket over jeans and cowboy boots. In his speech, he promoted books, reminding the audience the movie was developed from a short story. In his Golden Globe acceptance speech, he paid tribute to his Swiss-made

Hermes 3000 The Hermes 3000 was a lightweight, segment-shifted portable typewriter manufactured by . "Bulbous" and "angular" in shape, it came with a fitted, hard-shell removable cover. The machines were built in Yverdon, Switzerland, by Paillard S.A. The ...

typewriter.

Personal life

McMurtry married Jo Scott, who is an English professor and has authored five books. Before divorcing, they had a son together, James McMurtry. Both he and his son (Larry's grandson) Curtis McMurtry are singer/songwriters and guitarists. In 1991 McMurtry underwent heart surgery. During his recovery, he suffered severe depression. He recovered at the home of his future writing partner Diana Ossana and wrote his novel "Streets of Laredo" at her kitchen counter. McMurtry married Norma Faye Kesey, the widow of writer

, on April 29, 2011, in a civil ceremony in Archer City. McMurtry died on March 25, 2021, at his home in Archer City, Texas. He was 84 years old.

Fiction

Stand-alone novels

* 1982: ''Cadillac Jack'' * 1988: ''Anything For Billy'' (fictionalized biography of

Billy the Kid Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at th ...

) * 1990: ''

Buffalo Girls ''Buffalo Girls'' is a 1990 novel written by American author Larry McMurtry about Calamity Jane. It is written in the novel prose style mixed with a series of letters from Calamity Jane to her daughter. In her letters, Calamity describes hersel ...

'' (fictionalized biography of

Calamity Jane Martha Jane Cannary (May 1, 1852 – August 1, 1903), better known as Calamity Jane, was an American frontierswoman, sharpshooter, and storyteller. In addition to many exploits she was known for being an acquaintance of Wild Bill Hickok. Lat ...

) – adapted for TV as ''

'' * 1994: ''Pretty Boy Floyd'' (with Diana Ossana) (fictionalised biography of the titular gangster) * 1997: ''Zeke and Ned'' (with Diana Ossana) (fictionalized biography of the last Cherokee warriors) * 2000: ''Boone's Lick'' * 2005: ''Loop Group'' * 2006: ''Telegraph Days'' * 2014: ''The Last Kind Words Saloon''

''Thalia: A Texas Trilogy''

Larry McMurtry's first three novels, all set in the north Texas town of Thalia after World War II * 1961: ''

'' – adapted for film as '' Hud'' * 1963: '' Leaving Cheyenne'' – adapted for film as '' Lovin' Molly'' * 1966: ''The Last Picture Show'' – adapted for film as '' The Last Picture Show''

''Harmony and Pepper'' series

The books follow the story of mother/daughter characters Harmony and Pepper * 1983: ''The Desert Rose'' * 1995: ''The Late Child''

''Duane Moore'' series

The books follow the story of character Duane Moore * 1966: ''The Last Picture Show'' – adapted for film as '' The Last Picture Show'' * 1987: ''Texasville'' – adapted for film as '' Texasville'' * 1999: ''Duane's Depressed'' * 2007: ''When The Light Goes'' * 2009: ''Rhino Ranch: A Novel''

''Houston'' series

The books follow the stories of occasionally recurring characters living in the Houston, Texas, area * 1970: ''Moving On'' (characters Patsy Carpenter/Danny Deck/Emma Horton/Joe Percy) * 1972: ''All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers'' (Danny Deck/Jill Peel/Emma Horton) * 1975: ''Terms of Endearment'' (Emma Horton/Aurora Greenway) – adapted for film as '' Terms of Endearment'' * 1978: ''Somebody's Darling'' (Jill Peel/Joe Percy) * 1989: ''Some Can Whistle'' (Danny Deck) * 1992: ''The Evening Star'' (Aurora Greenaway) – adapted for film as ''

The Evening Star ''The Evening Star'' is a 1996 American comedy-drama film. It is a sequel to the Academy Award-winning 1983 film ''Terms of Endearment'' starring Shirley MacLaine, who reprises the role of Aurora Greenway, for which she won an Oscar in the origin ...

''Lonesome Dove'' series

* 1985: ''

'', 1986 Pulitzer Prize winner * 1993: '' Streets of Laredo'' * 1995: '' Dead Man's Walk'' * 1997: '' Comanche Moon''

'' The Berrybender Narratives''

* 2002: '' Sin Killer'' * 2003: ''

The Wandering Hill ''The Wandering Hill'' is a novel by Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Tex ...

'' * 2003: '' By Sorrow's River'' * 2004: '' Folly and Glory''

As editor

* 1999: ''Still Wild: A Collection of Western Stories''

Other writings

* 1988: '' The Murder of Mary Phagan'' – TV movie * 1990: ''Montana'' – TV movie * 1992: ''Memphis'' – TV movie * 1992: '' Falling from Grace'' – film starring John Mellencamp * 2002: ''

Johnson County War The Johnson County War, also known as the War on Powder River and the Wyoming Range War, was a range conflict that took place in Johnson County, Wyoming from 1889 to 1893. The conflict began when cattle companies started ruthlessly persecuting ...

'' – TV miniseries * 2005: '' Brokeback Mountain'' (with Diana Ossana) – Oscar-winning screenplay (adapted from the short story by

) * 2020: '' Joe Bell'' (with Diana Ossana)

Nonfiction

* 1968: ''In A Narrow Grave: Essays on Texas'' * 1974: "It's Always We Rambled" (essay) * 1987: ''Film Flam: Essays on Hollywood '' * 1999: ''Crazy Horse: A Life'' (biography) * 1999: ''Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections on Sixty and Beyond'' * 2000: ''Roads: Driving America's Great Highways'' * 2001: '' Sacagawea's Nickname''—essays on the American West * 2002: ''Paradise''—South-Pacific travelogue/memoir * 2005: ''The Colonel and Little Missie: Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley & the Beginnings of Superstardom in America'' * 2005: ''Oh What A Slaughter! : Massacres in the American West: 1846—1890'' * 2008: ''Books: A Memoir'' * 2009: ''Literary Life: A Second Memoir'' * 2011: ''Hollywood: A Third Memoir'' * 2012: ''Custer''

Film

* 1963: '' Hud'' (based on novel ''

'' from 1961) * 1971: '' The Last Picture Show'' (co-wrote screenplay, based on novel from 1966) * 1974: '' Lovin' Molly'' (based on the novel '' Leaving Cheyenne'' from 1963) * 1983: '' Terms of Endearment'' (based on novel from 1975) * 1990: '' Texasville'' (based on novel from 1987) * 1992: '' Falling from Grace'' (wrote screenplay and story) * 1996: ''

'' (based on novel from 1992) * 2005: '' Brokeback Mountain'' (co-wrote screenplay with Diana Ossana and adapted from the short story by

) * 2020: '' Joe Bell'' (co-wrote screenplay with Diana Ossana)

Television

*1977: ''The American Film Institute's 10th Anniversary Special'' (writer) *1988: '' The Murder of Mary Phagan'' (mini-series based on story) *1989: ''

'' (mini-series based on 1985 novel) *1990: ''Montana'' (original screenplay) *1992: ''Memphis'' (teleplay) *1993: '' Return to Lonesome Dove'' (based on the fictional universe of the 1985 novel) *1994–1995: '' Lonesome Dove: The Series'' (based on the fictional universe of the 1985 novel) *1995: ''

'' (based on 1990 novel) *1995: '' Streets of Laredo'' (wrote teleplay, based on 1993 novel) *1995–1996: ''Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years'' (based on the fictional world of the 1985 novel) *1996: '' Dead Man's Walk'' (wrote teleplay, based on 1995 novel) *2002: ''Johnson County War'' (wrote teleplay) *2008: '' Comanche Moon'' (wrote teleplay, based on 1997 novel)

References

External links

Larry McMurtry Collection
from the Rare Book & Texana Collections,

website *McMurtry, Larry.
The Author Who Sold Books
, ''Washingtonian'', August 1, 2008.

from the

Texas State University-San Marcos Texas State University is a public research university in San Marcos, Texas. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has grown to the second largest university in the Greater Austin metropolitan area and the fifth largest university ...

website * *
The Treasure Hunter
Michael Dirda review of McMurtry's ''Books: A Memoir'' from ''

''
Larry McMurtry screenplays, 1979–1988 and undated, in the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at Texas Tech University
* ttps://westernamericanliterature.com/larry-mcmurtry-2/ Articles in ''Western American Literature'' {{DEFAULTSORT:McMurtry, Larry 1936 births 2021 deaths Larry McMurtry 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American military historians Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners Best Screenplay BAFTA Award winners Best Adapted Screenplay Academy Award winners American chick lit writers People from Archer City, Texas People from Wichita Falls, Texas Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winners Rice University alumni University of North Texas alumni Texas Christian University faculty Novelists from Texas Writers Guild of America Award winners Western (genre) writers Best Screenplay Golden Globe winners American male screenwriters National Humanities Medal recipients PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction winners 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Stegner Fellows 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers Screenwriters from Texas Historians from Texas American Western (genre) novelists