DALLAS 鈥� Larry McMurtry, the prolific and popular author who took readers back to the old American West in his Pulitzer Prize-winning 鈥淟onesome Dove鈥� and returned them to modern-day landscapes in works such as his emotional tale of a mother-daughter relationship in 鈥淭erms of Endearment,鈥� has died. He was 84.
His death was confirmed Friday by a spokesman for his publisher, Liveright. Further details were not immediately available.
McMurtry, who had in his later years split his time between his small Texas hometown of Archer City and Tucson, Arizona, wrote almost 50 books, including novels, biographies and essay collections. He simultaneously worked as a bookseller and screenwriter, co-writing the Oscar-winning script for the movie 鈥淏rokeback Mountain.鈥�
Several of McMurtry鈥檚 books became feature films, including the Oscar-winners 鈥淭he Last Picture Show鈥� and 鈥淭erms of Endearment.鈥� His epic 1986 Pulitzer winner 鈥淟onesome Dove,鈥� about a cattle drive from Texas across the Great Plains during the 1870s, was made into a popular television miniseries that starred Robert Duvall, who has often cited the project as a personal
鈥溾�橪onesome Dove鈥� was an effort to kind of demythologize the myth of the Old West," McMurtry told The Associated Press in a 2014 interview. But, he added, "They鈥檙e going to twist it into something romantic no matter what you do.鈥�
鈥淭he Last Picture Show,鈥� his third novel, became a classic with its coming-of-age story set in a small Texas town. He and director Peter Bogdanovich were nominated for an Academy Award for their script for the movie, filmed in Archer City, located about 140 miles (225
鈥淪itting here thinking of the greatness of Larry McMurtry,鈥� Brooks tweeted Friday. 鈥淎mong the best writers ever. I remember when he sent me on my way to adapt 鈥淭erms鈥� 鈥� his refusal to let me hold him in awe. And the fact that he was personally working the cash register of his rare book store as he did so.鈥�
McMurtry was born on June 3, 1936, into a family of ranchers. McMurtry attended what is now the University of North Texas in Denton and Rice University in Houston and was member of Stanford University鈥檚 Stegner writing fellowship.
He wrote his first novel, 鈥淗orseman, Pass by,鈥� at the age of 25 in 1961. It was made into the movie 鈥淗ud鈥� starring Paul Newman that came out two years later.
McMurtry opened his first used and rare bookstore in 1971 in Washington, D.C., and later opened other stores in Houston, Dallas and Tucson.
In the mid-1980s, lured by cheap real estate, he opened his Booked Up store in Archer City. Eventually, the store in Archer City was the only one remaining. He downsized the store 鈥� both in volume and storefronts 鈥� in an effort dubbed The Last Book Sale, but retained about 200,000 volumes.
He had about 28,000 books in his nearby home in Archer City. 鈥淚鈥檓 very attached to the books. I need them. I need to be among them,鈥� he told The AP in 2014.
McMurtry鈥檚 writing collaboration with Diana Ossana began after she helped him get out of a slump following quadruple bypass heart surgery in 1991. They won the Academy Award for their screenplay for the 2005 movie 鈥淏rokeback Mountain,鈥� based on an Annie Proulx short story about two cowboys who fall in love. His most recent novel, 鈥淭he Last Kind Words Saloon,鈥� came out in 2014.
He told the Associated Press in 1994 that his life throughout the 1980s had been peripatetic 鈥�
The two, both divorced, had met at a Tucson catfish restaurant and struck up a friendship. After the surgery, McMurtry spent his time sleeping in Ossana鈥檚 guest room, writing 鈥淪treets of Laredo鈥� on a typewriter in her kitchen, or staring out the window.
She helped edit 鈥淪treets of Laredo鈥� and then began encouraging him to accept screenwriting offers. 鈥淚 was getting lots of offers then from the movies. I was very popular, but I didn鈥檛 feel confident. I鈥檇 had real serious heart problems. I got a lot of offers and I think that she just got tired of me turning them down,鈥� he said.
When the offer came in for a script on the Depression-era bank robber Pretty Boy Floyd, Ossana and McMurtry tackled it together and then wrote the novel 鈥淧retty Boy Floyd.鈥� After that they collaborated on more than 40 screenplays.
He married Josephine Ballard in 1959 and three years later, the couple had a son, singer-songwriter James McMurtry. In 1966, they divorced. In 2011, he got married for a second time: to Faye Kesey, the widow of longtime friend Ken Kesey, author of 鈥淥ne Flew Over the Cuckoo鈥檚 Nest.鈥� They held their marriage ceremony in the Archer City bookstore.
Don Graham, a professor of English and American literature at the University of Texas in Austin, said in a 2014 interview with the AP that McMurtry is 鈥減re-eminently a storyteller.鈥� 鈥淗e鈥檚 a great creator of characters and dialogue. That鈥檚 one of the reasons he鈥檚 had so much success in Hollywood,鈥� Graham said.
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AP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report from New York City.
Jamie Stengle, The Associated Press
