Tony hillerman author biography in the background
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Hillerman, Tony
PERSONAL: Foaled May 27, ; top soil of Honourable Alfred (a farmer) folk tale Lucy (Grove) Hillerman; wedded Marie Unzner, August 16, ; children: Anne, Janet, Anthony, Monica, Stephen, Magistrate. Education: Accompanied Oklahoma Realm University, ; University be fond of Oklahoma, B.A., ; Campus of Another Mexico, M.A., Politics: Exponent. Religion: Italian Catholic. Hobbies and in relation to interests: Trout fishing.
ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Communication, Houghton Mifflin, Berkeley St., Boston, Quandary
CAREER: Borger News Herald, Borger, TX, reporter, ; Morning Press-Constitution, Lawton, Cleft, city rewrite man, ; Mutual Press Supranational, Oklahoma Plug, OK, federal reporter, , Santa Tamp down, NM, writingdesk manager, ; New Mexican,Santa Fe, governmental reporter streak executive reviser, ; Academia of Another Mexico, Metropolis, associate academician, , senior lecturer, , armchair of subdivision, , helper to rendering president, , professor old of journalism, —; scribbler. Military service: U.S. Gray, ; established Silver Skill, Bronze Knowledge, and Colourise Heart.
MEMBER: Cosmopolitan Crime Writers Association, Enigma Writers disturb America (president, ), Metropolis Press Truncheon, Sigma Delta Chi, Phi Kappa Phi.
AWARDS, HONORS:Edgar Allan Poe Give, Mystery Writers of U.s.a., , provision Dance Foyer of picture Dead; Aureate Spur accord
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American University Magazine American
Selecting a subject for a biography is like finding someone to date, says James McGrath Morris, CAS/BA ’ “The person has to fascinate me, an endless fascination that makes me want to get up in the morning and figure something out.” His latest book, Tony Hillerman: A Life, centers on the New Mexico author who published 18 mystery novels featuring Navajo Nation police detectives at a time when diverse characters were still few and far between.
Why Tony Hillerman?
I felt he was underappreciated as a serious literary figure, in part because he wrote entertainment. People don’t tend to think of mysteries as literature. A biography could help remedy that by making a case that he was up to something more significant. He had such a magnificently interesting life filled with goodness, and that’s rare. There was nothing I found about Hillerman’s life that wasn’t admirable or inspiring.
Were you a fan before you began this book?
Yes, I was. I started reading his books in the summer of ’ He cleverly uses landscape as a character. It isn’t a backdrop. He uses it to engage his protagonists, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. They interact with the landscape—the dryness, the winds, the dramatic sunsets, the tall mountains, the thunderheads—al
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Biography of Tony HillermanTony Hillerman was born in Sacred Heart, OK on May 27, He was the youngest of three children, having an older brother and sister. His father, August A. Hillerman, was a storekeeper and farmer. His mother was Lucy Grove Hillerman.
He attended school from at St. Mary's Academy, a boarding school for Native American girls at Sacred Heart. He was one of several farm boys enrolled there. Sacred Heart was near a Benedictine mission to the Citizen Band Potowatomie Tribe. For high school, he was bused to Konawa High School. He graduated in He returned to farming after a brief sojourn to college and after his father's death.
In , he joined the U. S. Army, serving in combat in World War II. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star with Oak Leaf Cluster, and the Purple Heart after being wounded in (These injuries included broken legs, foot, ankle, facial burns, and temporary blindness.) He was discharged in
After the war, he attended the University of Oklahoma, receiving a B. A. in
He married Marie Unzner in , to whom he is still married. They have six grown children.
From , he worked in a variety of journalist positions. He was a reporter for the Borger News Herald in Borger, TX (), city editor for the Morning Press-Constitution in Lawton, O