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Larry McMurtry

ラリー・ジェフ・マクマートリー

Larry Jeff McMurtry

Pen Names:

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1936-06-03 （Wichita Falls (birth), Archer City (raised), Texas, United States）
Died
2021-03-25 （Tucson, Arizona, United States） age 84
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Residence History
Archer City, Texas → Houston, Texas → Washington, D.C., United States → Tucson, Arizona, United States → Georgetown (Washington, D.C.)

Career

Occupations
novelist, essayist, screenwriter, antiquarian bookseller, bibliophile, university lecturer
Active Years
1961-2021
Memberships
PEN America (former president), American Antiquarian Society (member)
Influenced By
Frank O'Connor, Malcolm Cowley, Wallace Stegner
Influenced
Contemporary Western writers and screenwriters, Numerous filmmakers and television writers (influence on screen adaptations)

Education

University of North Texas
Degree: BA
Period: 1954–1958
Year of Graduation: 1958
Country: United States
Earned BA
Rice University
Degree: MA
Period: 1958–1960
Year of Graduation: 1960
Country: United States
Earned MA
Stanford University (Wallace Stegner Fellowship)
Period: 1960–1961
Country: United States
Creative Writing fellowship (Wallace Stegner Fellowship)

Awards

Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
1986
Work: Lonesome Dove
Organization: Pulitzer Prize Board
Result: 受賞
Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
2006
Work: Brokeback Mountain
Organization: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Result: 受賞（Diana Ossanaと共同）
Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay
2006
Work: Brokeback Mountain
Organization: Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Result: 受賞（Diana Ossanaと共同）
National Humanities Medal
2014
Organization: National Endowment for the Humanities
Result: 受賞
Guggenheim Fellowship
1964
Organization: John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
Result: 受賞
Texas Institute of Letters - Jesse H. Jones Award
1962
Work: Horseman, Pass By
Organization: Texas Institute of Letters
Result: 受賞
Texas Institute of Letters - Jesse H. Jones Award
1967
Work: The Last Picture Show
Organization: Texas Institute of Letters
Result: 受賞
Texas Institute of Letters - Jesse H. Jones Award
1986
Work: Lonesome Dove
Organization: Texas Institute of Letters
Result: 受賞
Lon Tinkle Award (Lifetime Achievement)
1984
Organization: Texas Institute of Letters
Result: 受賞
Peggy V. Helmerich Distinguished Author Award
1986
Organization: Tulsa Library Trust
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Horseman, Pass By

1962 Novel (modern Western)

An early novel set in a small Texas town, exploring conflicts over family and land.

home and changesocial change in the American South/Texas
Adaptations
  • [Film] Hud / マーティン・リット（Martin Ritt） (1963)

The Last Picture Show

1966 Novel (regional fiction)

A signature novel about a small postwar Texas town: the coming-of-age of young people and the town's decline.

youthnostalgiadecline of small towns
Adaptations
  • [Film] The Last Picture Show / ピーター・ボグダノヴィッチ（Peter Bogdanovich） (1971)

Terms of Endearment

1975 Novel (family drama)

A story centered on a mother-daughter relationship, depicting family joys and sorrows.

mother-daughter bondfamily and loss
Adaptations
  • [Film] Terms of Endearment / ジェームズ・L・ブルックス（James L. Brooks） (1983)

Lonesome Dove

1985 Novel (Western)

An epic Western set in Texas, chronicling friendship, heroism, and changing times.

friendshipadventure and losstransformation of the West
Adaptations
  • [Television miniseries] Lonesome Dove / シェーン・カスディ（脚本・製作チーム多人数） (1989)

Brokeback Mountain (screenplay adaptation)

2005 Screenplay

Screenplay adapted (with Diana Ossana) from E. Annie Proulx's short story about a same-sex relationship and its social conflicts.

love and repressionsocial prejudice

Bibliography

  • Horseman, Pass By (1962)
  • Leaving Cheyenne (1963)
  • The Last Picture Show (1966)
  • Moving On (1970)
  • All My Friends Are Going to Be Strangers (1972)
  • Terms of Endearment (1975)
  • Lonesome Dove (1985)
  • Streets of Laredo (1993)
  • Dead Man's Walk (1995)
  • Comanche Moon (1997)
  • The Last Kind Words Saloon (2014)

Adaptations

  • Hud (film, 1963)
  • The Last Picture Show (film, 1971)
  • Terms of Endearment (film, 1983)
  • Lonesome Dove (TV miniseries, 1989)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
detailed character studies and regionalismlaconic, dialogue-driven prosemix of humor and irony
Recurring Motifs
lonelinessnostalgia and lossthe changing West/frontierdecline of small towns

Health

  • Heart surgery (cardiac surgery) and post-operative depression
    1991
    Suffered severe depression following heart surgery in 1991; recovered with support and continued writing.

Legacy

A major figure in American literature known for works set in Texas and the West. Works such as Lonesome Dove are acclaimed as Western epics and have been widely adapted for film and television. He was also notable as a book collector and antiquarian bookseller, contributing to preservation and appreciation of books.

Academic Societies

  • American Antiquarian Society

Archives

  • University of North Texas Rare Book & Texana Collections (Larry McMurtry Collection)
  • Rice University Woodson Research Center (Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana Papers)
  • Harry Ransom Center (Larry McMurtry Papers)

In Popular Culture

  • Influence on television culture via the Lonesome Dove miniseries (1989)
  • Impact on film culture through adaptations such as Terms of Endearment, Hud, and The Last Picture Show
  • Major book auction of his collection in 2012 ('The Last Booksale') drew attention in the book trade

Quotes

  • 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.
    Source: Quoted in Tracy Daugherty, Larry McMurtry: A Life (2023) — remark by Dave Hickey (2023)
  • (On Pulitzer-winning Lonesome Dove) 'The Gone With the Wind of the West... a pretty good book; it's not a towering masterpiece.'
    Source: Larry McMurtry, Literary Life: A Second Memoir (2009) (2009)

Trivia

  • At the 2006 Oscars he accepted wearing a dinner jacket over jeans and cowboy boots.
  • He maintained a massive personal book collection and staged a large auction in 2012 titled 'The Last Booksale'.
  • He was noted for his beloved Hermes 3000 typewriter.