Max Fleming Crawford (August 6, 1938 – October 7, 2010) was an American writer. He was born in Lubbock, Texas, and grew up in

Floydada Floydada ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Texas, United States. This rural community lies on the high plains of the Llano Estacado in West Texas and is sometimes referred to as the Pumpkin Capital of Texas. Its population was ...

, Texas. Crawford was influenced by

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway ( ; July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Known for an economical, understated style that influenced later 20th-century writers, he has been romanticized fo ...

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...

, and

Malcolm Lowry Clarence Malcolm Lowry (; 28 July 1909 – 26 June 1957) was an English poet and novelist who is best known for his 1947 novel ''Under the Volcano'', which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library's 100 Best Novels list.

. His friendships with other writers were a great influence in his life and career as well, including

Larry McMurtry Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas.

, Wendell Berry, Michael Koepf,

Raymond Carver Raymond Clevie Carver Jr. (May 25, 1938 – August 2, 1988) was an American short story writer and poet. He published his first collection of stories, '' Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?'', in 1976. His breakout collection, '' What We Talk About ...

Chuck Kinder Charles Alfonso Kinder II (October 8, 1946 – May 3, 2019) was an American novelist. Biography Kinder was born October 8 in Montgomery, West Virginia to Charles Alfonso and Eileen Reba (Parsons) Kinder. He was educated at West Virginia Universit ...

, Al Young, Diane Smith, Bill Kittredge,

Scott Turow Scott Frederick Turow (born April 12, 1949) is an American author and lawyer. Turow worked as a lawyer for a decade before writing full-time, and has written 13 fiction and three nonfiction books, which have been translated into more than 40 la ...

, Jon Jackson and

James Crumley James Arthur Crumley (October 12, 1939 – September 17, 2008)Local author James Crumley dies at 68 url=http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/09/18/news/local/news02.txt date=2008-09-17 accessdate=2008–09=18Fox, Margali''New York Times'' (S ...

Personal life

He attended the

University of Texas at Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

, where he earned an undergraduate degree in economics and met his wife, Susan Sherzer Parsons. They moved to Mexico and lived in the

Zona Rosa Zona Rosa (Spanish: "pink zone") is a term used in Latin American countries to refer to a district that is the center of a town or city's nightlife. It may refer to: Places * Zona Rosa, Mexico City, a neighborhood in Mexico City * Zona Rosa (San Sa ...

of Mexico City, where his son Peter was born. After the birth of his daughter Katherine in Houston, Crawford was awarded a

Stegner Fellowship The Stegner Fellowship program is a two-year creative writing fellowship at Stanford University. The award is named after American Wallace Stegner (1909–1993), a historian, novelist, short story writer, environmentalist, and Stanford faculty m ...

, and moved with his family to California. Over his life, he worked on his novels in Houston, London,

Pézenas Pézenas (; Languedocien: ''Pesenàs'') is a commune in the Hérault department in the Occitanie region in southern France. Name The name "Pézenas" is derived from the older name ''Piscenae'', probably from the Latin word ''piscenis'', meanin ...

, France, Montana, and San Francisco.

Career

Many of his novels are set in West Texas, such as ''Lords of the Plain'', much admired by Ronald Reagan, and ''The Backslider'', and others in California, such as ''The Bad Communist''. He has also published poems and written and edited literary publications, such as ''The Redneck Review'' and ''100 Flowers''. His papers are held in the Sowell Family Collection in Literature, Community, and the Natural World, part of the Southwest Collection/Special Collections Library at

Texas Tech University Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public university, public research university in Lubbock, Texas, United States. Established on February 10, 1923, and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the flagship instit ...

Works

*''Waltz Across Texas'' (1975) – novel (first novel published) *''The Backslider'' (1976) – novel (first novel written) *''The Bad Communist'' (1979) – novel *''Lords of the Plain'' (1985) – novel *''Six Key Cut'' (1986) – novel *''Icarus'' (1988) – novel, with Michael Koepf *''Can't Dance'' (1989) – novel *''The Red & the White'' (1996) – novel *''Highschoolharry&co.'' (2000) – novel *''Wing Shot: A Novel'' (2001) *''Wamba: A Novel'' (2002) *''Eastertown: A Novel'' (2003)

Quotes

No one knew when we would commence our second campaign. Our horses were fat, the men restless, all equipment and tack and supplies stood ready, and still we did not march out.

''Lords of the Plain'' (1997)

In nine days’ march I reached some plains, so vast that I did not find their end anywhere I went … plains with no more landmarks than as if we had been swallowed up in the sea, where our guides strayed about, because there was not a stone, nor a bit of rising ground, nor a tree, nor a shrub, nor anything to go by …

''Lords of the Plain'' (1997)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Crawford, Max F. 1938 births 2010 deaths People from Lubbock, Texas American historical novelists Western (genre) writers Novelists from Texas University of Texas at Austin College of Liberal Arts alumni Stanford University alumni American male novelists 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers People from Floydada, Texas