Stephen Harrigan (born 1948) is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. He is best known as the author of the bestselling ''The Gates of the Alamo'', for other novels such as ''Remember Ben Clayton'' and ''A Friend of Mr. Lincoln,'' and for his magazine work in ''Texas Monthly. ''

Life

He was born in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

in 1948 as Michael Stephen McLaughlin, the second son of Marjorie Berney McLaughlin, an Army nurse, and of James Erwin McLaughlin, a decorated fighter pilot in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

who was killed in a plane crash on Mt. Pilchuck northeast of Seattle six months before Harrigan was born. When he was five, his mother married Tom Harrigan, a Texas-based independent oilman. The family moved to Abilene, and then to Corpus Christi. Stephen Harrigan graduated from 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 ...

in 1971 and—after several years working as a yardman—began writing for the newly established magazine

Texas Monthly ''Texas Monthly'' (stylized as ''TexasMonthly'') is a monthly American magazine headquartered in Downtown Austin, Texas. Founded in 1973 by Michael R. Levy, ''Texas Monthly'' chronicles life in contemporary Texas, writing on politics, the Natura ...

and launched his career as a freelance writer. His articles and essays have appeared there and in a wide variety of other magazines, including ''Outside'', ''Esquire'', ''The New York Times Book Review'', ''National Geographic,'' ''American History, The Wall Street Journal, '' and ''Slate.''

Publishing career

Harrigan's novel, ''The Gates of the Alamo'', published in 2000, was a ''New York Times'' bestseller and the recipient of a number of awards, including the TCU Texas Book Award, the Western Heritage Award from the

National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum The National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum is a museum in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, with more than 28,000 American West, Western and Native American art works and Artifact (archaeology), artifacts. The facility also has the worl ...

and the Spur Award for Best Novel of the West from the

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction Western fiction is a genre of literature set in th ...

. His 2011 novel ''Remember Ben Clayton'' also won the Spur Award, as well as the Jesse H. Jones Award 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 resp ...

and the James Fenimore Cooper Prize from the

Society of American Historians The Society of American Historians, founded in 1939, encourages and honors literary distinction in the writing of history and biography about American topics. The approximately 300 members include professional historians, independent scholars, jou ...

for best historical novel. His latest novel is A Friend of Mr. Lincoln, a work of fiction centering on Abraham Lincoln's early career as a lawyer and state legislator in Springfield, Illinois. A starred review in Publishers Weekly hailed the book as “superb” and, in the judgment of Pulitzer Prize winning historian

Joseph J. Ellis Joseph John-Michael Ellis III (born July 18, 1943) is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the Founding Fathers of the United States. His book '' American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson'' won a Nationa ...

, it is “historical fiction at its very best.” He has recently finished a sweeping history of Texas, from prehistory to the present, entitled "Big Wonderful Thing". It is already a bestseller on Amazon.

Screenwriting career

Stephen Harrigan has also been a prolific screenwriter, principally in the field of made-for-television movies, a career he recounted in a ''Slate'' essay titled "I Was an A-List Writer of B-List Productions." Among the films he has written are '' The Last of His Tribe'' (HBO), '' Beyond the Prairie: The True Story of Laura Ingalls Wilder'' (CBS), ''

King of Texas ''King of Texas'' is a 2002 American Western television film based on William Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' and directed by Uli Edel. Plot The film takes the plot of William Shakespeare's ''King Lear'' and places it in the Republic of Texas dur ...

'' (TNT) and '' The Colt'' (The Hallmark Channel.) He worked with

Robert Altman Robert Bernard Altman ( ; February 20, 1925 – November 20, 2006) was an American film director, screenwriter, and film producer, producer. He is considered an enduring figure from the New Hollywood era, known for directing subversive and sat ...

on a feature version of S. R. Bindler's documentary, ''Hands on a Hard Body'', about an endurance contest to win a pickup truck. Altman was in pre-production on the movie at the time of his death in November 2006. More recently, he has collaborated with

William Broyles Jr. William Dodson Broyles Jr.
Filmreference.com. Accessed November 28, 2022. (born October 8, 1944) is an A ...

on a screenplay based on Conn Igulden's series of novels about Julius Caesar. That project is in development with Exclusive Media.

Robert Duvall Robert Selden Duvall (; born January 5, 1931) is an American actor. With a career spanning seven decades, he is regarded as one of the greatest actors of all time. He has received an Academy Awards, Academy Award, a British Academy Film Awards ...

optioned—as producer and star—another screenplay, ''The Which Way Tree,'' based on the novel by

Elizabeth Crook Elizabeth Crook (born April 9, 1959) is an American novelist specializing in historical fiction. Her nonfiction work has been published in anthologies and periodicals such as Texas Monthly and Southwestern Historical Quarterly. Biography Born ...

. Harrigan and Crook co-wrote the screenplay.

Personal life

Harrigan and his wife Sue Ellen live in Austin, Texas. They have three daughters and five grandchildren. For twenty years, he taught creative writing in the MFA program at the

Michener Center for Writers The Michener Center for Writers is a Masters of Fine Arts program in fiction, poetry, playwriting, and screenwriting at the University of Texas at Austin. Bret Anthony Johnston is the current director of the program. Previously, James Magnuson ra ...

at the University of Texas at Austin. He is a founding member of Capital Area Statues, Inc., an organization that raises money for public monuments that celebrate the history and culture of Texas. He was inducted into the Texas Literary Hall of Fame and has won lifetime achievement awards from the

Texas Book Festival The Texas Book Festival is a free annual book festival held in downtown Austin, Texas. The festival takes place each fall in October or November and includes programming for children and adults. It is one of the largest and most critically acc ...

and the

Works

Novels

* ''Aransas'' (1980) * ''Jacob's Well'' (1984) * ''The Gates of the Alamo'' (2000) * ''Challenger Park'' (2006) * ''Remember Ben Clayton'' (2011) * ''A Friend of Mr. Lincoln'' (2016) * ''The Leopard Is Loose'' (2022)

Non-fiction

* ''Water and Light: A Diver's Journey to a Coral Reef'' (1992) * ''They Came from the Sky'' (preview of a forthcoming Texas history) (2017) * ''Big Wonderful Thing: A History of Texas'' (2019)

Essays

* ''A Natural State'' (1988) * ''Comanche Midnight'' (1995) * ''The Eye of the Mammoth'' (2013)

References

External links

Articles and columns at Texas Monthly

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harrigan, Stephen 1948 births 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists Living people Writers from Oklahoma City Writers from Austin, Texas American magazine journalists Journalists from Oklahoma Journalists from Texas 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Texas Novelists from Oklahoma 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers