Larry McMurtry
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Larry McMurtry (born June 3, 1936 in Wichita Falls, Texas) is an American novelist, essayist and screenwriter.
McMurtry is probably best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning novel Lonesome Dove, which was adapted into a hit television miniseries. Much of his fiction is set in the "old west" or contemporary Texas. McMurtry's writing consistently creates a strong sense of place, characters, and dialogue.
McMurtry grew up on a ranch outside of Archer City, Texas. He earned degrees from North Texas State University (B.A. 1958) and Rice University (M.A. 1960). He published his first novels while an English instructor, and he won the 1962 Texas Institute of Letters Jesse M. Jones award. In 1964 he was awarded a Guggenheim grant.
A book collector, he purchased a rare book store in Washington, D.C.'s Georgetown neighborhood in 1970 and named it Booked Up. He moved to Washington D.C. to run the store. In 1988 he opened a second Booked Up in Archer City, establishing the town as an American "Book City".
His son, James McMurtry, is a singer/songwriter and guitarist.
Books, novels and films
- 1961 - Horseman, Pass By - adapted for film as Hud
- 1963 - Leaving Cheyenne - adapted for film as Lovin' Molly
- 1966 - The Last Picture Show - adapted into a film of the same name
- 1968 - In A Narrow Grave
- 1970 - Moving On
- 1972 - All My Friends Are Going To Be Strangers
- 1974 - It's Always We Rambled (essay)
- 1975 - Terms Of Endearment - adapted into a film of the same name
- 1978 - Somebody's Darling
- 1982 - Cadillac Jack
- 1983 - Desert Rose
- 1985 - Lonesome Dove, 1986 Pulitzer Prize winner, and first of what became a series
- 1987 - Texasville - adapted into a film of the same name - A continuation of the story begun in The Last Picture Show
- 1987 - Film Flam
- 1988 - Anything For Billy
- 1988 - The Murder of Mary Phagan - TV story
- 1989 - Some Can Whistle
- 1990 - Buffalo Girls - adapted into a TV movie
- 1990 - Montana - TV movie
- 1992 - The Evening Star - adapted for film as The Evening Star - A continuation of the story begun in Terms of Endearment
- 1992 - Memphis - TV movie
- 1992 - Falling from Grace - TV movie
- 1993 - Streets of Laredo, another in the Lonesome Dove series
- 1994 - Pretty Boy Floyd (with Diana Ossana)
- 1995 - Dead Man's Walk, another in the Lonesome Dove series
- 1995 - The Late Child
- 1997 - Comanche Moon, the last as of 2004 of the Lonesome Dove series
- 1997 - Zeke and Ned
- 1999 - Crazy Horse
- 1999 - Duane's Depressed - A continuation of The Last Picture Show and Texasville story
- 1999 - Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen
- 2001 - Sacagawea's Nickname (essays on the American West)
- 2002 - Sin Killer - The Berrybender Narratives, Book 1
- 2002 - Johnson County War - TV mini-series
- 2003 - The Wandering Hill - The Berrybender Narratives, Book 2
- 2003 - By Sorrow's River - The Berrybender Narratives, Book 3
- 2004 - Folly and Glory: A Novel - The Berrybender Narratives, Book 4
McMurtry was also responsible for two Canadian television series in the 1990s, Lonesome Dove: The Series and Lonesome Dove: The Outlaw Years. Rumors have circulated for years that two novels by Ophelia Ray were ghost-written by McMurtry, The Daughter of Tejas in 1965 and Young Hidalgo: Carlos De Mendoza of San Antonio in 1968.
External links
- Larry McMurtry Papers 1984-1991 (http://www.library.swt.edu/swwc/archives/writers/mcmurtry.html), from the Texas State University-San Marcos website
- Guide to the Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana Papers, with Biography (http://www.rice.edu/fondren/woodson/mss/ms276.html), from the Rice University website
- Page on the author (http://www.nybooks.com/authors/3), from the New York Review of Books website
- Featured author article (http://www.nytimes.com/books/99/01/10/specials/mcmurtry.html), from the New York Times website
- Filmography (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0573505/) from the IMDb
See also: Other notable figures in Western films