Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936 – March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either theOld West or contemporaryTexas.[1] His novels includedHorseman, Pass By (1962),The Last Picture Show (1966), andTerms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34Oscar nominations (13 wins). He was also a prominentbook collector andbookseller.
Tracy Daugherty's 2023 biography of McMurtry quotes criticDave Hickey: "Larry is a writer, and it's kind of like being a critter. If you leave a cow alone, he'll eat grass. If you leave Larry alone, he'll write books. When he's in public, he may say hello and goodbye, but otherwise he is just resting, getting ready to go write."[3]
McMurtry's birth certificate states that he was born inWichita Falls, Texas, the son of Hazel Ruth (née McIver) and William Jefferson McMurtry.[4] He grew up on his parents' ranch outsideArcher City, Texas. The city was the model for the town of Thalia which is a setting for much of his fiction.[5] He earned a BA from theUniversity of North Texas in 1958 and an MA fromRice University in 1960.[6][7]
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 wasSergeant Silk: The Prairie Scout.[8]: 1–8
McMurtry and Kesey remained friends after McMurtry left California and returned to Texas to take a year-long composition instructorship atTexas Christian University.[11] In 1963, he returned to Rice University, where he served as a lecturer in English until 1969, and a visiting professor atGeorge Mason College (1970) andAmerican University (1970–71).[12] He entertained some of his early students with accounts of Hollywood and the filming ofHud, for which he was consulting. In 1964, Kesey and hisMerry Pranksters conducted their noted cross-country trip, stopping at McMurtry's home in Houston. The adventure in the day-glo-painted school busFurthur was chronicled byTom Wolfe inThe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test. That same year, McMurtry was awarded aGuggenheim Fellowship.[13]
He described his method for writing inBooks: 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 wrote every day, ignoring holidays and weekends.[8] McMurtry was a regular contributor toThe New York Review of Books.[18]
In 1989, McMurtry testified on behalf of PEN America before theU.S. Congress in opposition to immigration rules in the 1952McCarran–Walter Act that for decades permitted the visa denial and deportation of foreign writers for ideological reasons.[17] 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 theImmigration Act of 1990.[21]
One of McMurtry's bookstores in Archer City, Texas
While at Stanford, McMurtry became a rare-book scout.[22] During his years inHouston, he managed a bookstore called the Bookman. He moved to Washington, D.C. in 1969. Subsequently in 1970, he started a bookshop inGeorgetown with two partners, which he named Booked Up. In 1988, he opened another Booked Up inArcher 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.[23] The auction was conducted on August 10 and 11, 2012, and was overseen by Addison and Sarova Auctioneers ofMacon, Georgia. This epic book auction sold books by the shelf, and was billed as "The Last Booksale", in keeping with the title of McMurtry'sThe Last Picture Show. Dealers, collectors, and gawkers came outen 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."[24]
In 2006, he was co-winner (withDiana Ossana) of both the Best ScreenplayGolden Globe[31] and theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay forBrokeback Mountain, adapted from a short story byE. Annie Proulx. He accepted his Oscar while wearing a dinner jacket overjeans andcowboy boots.[32] 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-madeHermes 3000 typewriter.[33]
McMurtry married Jo Scott, an English professor who has authored five books.[34] Before divorcing, they had a son together,James McMurtry. Both James and his own son, Curtis McMurtry, are singer/songwriters and guitarists.[35]
In 1991 McMurtry underwent heart surgery.[36] During his recovery, he suffered severe depression. He recovered at the home of his future writing partnerDiana Ossana and wrote his novelStreets of Laredo at her kitchen counter.[37][38]
McMurtry married Norma Faye Kesey, the widow ofKen Kesey, on April 29, 2011, in a civil ceremony in Archer City.[39]
McMurtry died on March 25, 2021, at his home in Tucson, Arizona. He was 84 years old.[40]
It was announced in early 2023 that McMurtry's personal property, including his writing desk, typewriters and personal book collection would be sold at public auction by Vogt Auction inSan Antonio,Texas, on May 29, 2023.[41] A large amount of his personal collection of books went to INKQ Rare Books in Addison, Texas.[42]
