A. B. Guthrie Jr. | |
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| Born | (1901-01-13)January 13, 1901 Bedford, Indiana, U.S. |
| Died | April 26, 1991(1991-04-26) (aged 90) Choteau, Montana, U.S. |
| Education | University of Washington University of Montana (BA) |
| Occupation | Author |
Alfred Bertram "Bud" Guthrie Jr. (January 13, 1901 – April 26, 1991) was an Americannovelist,screenwriter,historian, and literary historian known for writingwestern stories. His novelThe Way West won the 1950Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, and his screenplay forShane (1953) was nominated for anAcademy Award.
Guthrie was born in 1901 inBedford, Indiana. When he was six months old he relocated with his parents to Montana,[1] where his father became the first principal of the Teton County Free High School inChoteau.[2] His father was a graduate ofIndiana University, his mother fromEarlham College atRichmond, Indiana.[2]: 1
A constant reader, Guthrie tried to write while in high school, "fiction pretty much, some essays, but I majored in journalism. My father had been a newspaper man for four years in this little town in Kentucky, and I guess he thought it was the way to become a writer".[3]:3
In 1919, Guthrie studied at theUniversity of Washington for a year, then transferred to theUniversity of Montana, where he was a member ofPhi Sigma Kappa fraternity[4] and graduated with a degree in journalism with honors in 1923.[5] He worked odd jobs for the next few years.[5]
In 1926, Guthrie took out a $300 bank loan and moved toLexington, Kentucky,[2]: 70 where he took a job at theLexington Leader newspaper.[2]: 77 For the next 21 years he worked as a reporter, the city editor, and an editorial writer for theLeader.[5][6] Guthrie published his first novelMurders at Moon Dance in 1943.[2]: 128 [6][7]
In 1944, while still at theLeader, Guthrie won the Nieman Fellowship fromHarvard,[5][8] and spent the year at the university studying writing.[6] While at Harvard he made friends with English professor Theodore Morrison,[2]: 104 "who knew so much about writing, probably more than I ever will."[3]:3 Morrison mentored Guthrie and helped him transition from journalism to fiction.[6][9]
During his year at Harvard Guthrie began his novelThe Big Sky, which was published in 1947.[6][9] Guthrie later wrote, "It wasn't until I went to Harvard that I got in gear. Then I went back and worked for the newspaper for another year or so."[3]:4
At theLexington Leader Guthrie's boss was very understanding and as long as Guthrie performed his news duties satisfactorily he was allowed to take his afternoons off to write fiction.[3]:18 After publication ofThe Big Sky Guthrie left the paper and supported himself by teaching creative writing atUniversity of Kentucky.[5] During this time he publishedThe Way West which won the 1950Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.[6][10] He quit teaching in 1952 to devote his full-time to writing,[5] and moved back toChoteau, Montana, because he said it was his "point of outlook on the universe".[3]: 8 He split his residence between Choteau and Great Falls, Montana, an hour away from Choteau.[11]
Guthrie continued to write predominantly western subjects. He worked for a time in Hollywood, writing the screenplays forShane (1953, for which he was nominated for anAcademy Award) andThe Kentuckian (1955).[5]
His other books includedThese Thousand Hills (1956),The Blue Hen's Chick (1965),Arfive (1970),The Last Valley (1975),Fair Land, Fair Land (1982),Murder in the Cotswolds (1989), andA Field Guide to Writing Fiction (1991).[5][6] His first collection of short stories,The Big It and Other Stories, was published in 1960.[5]
Guthrie died in 1991, at age 90, at his ranch near Choteau.[5][6]Mr. Guthrie was married to Harriet Larson in 1931 and by her he had two children, Alfred B. 3d, of Choteau, and Helen Miller of Butte, Mont., who survive him. Harriet Guthrie died in the early 1960s, and he married Carol B. Luthin in 1969. She survives him, as do two stepchildren, Herbert Luthin, of Clarion, Pa., and Amy Sakariassen, of Bismarck, N.D.
