Hillerman, crime novelist, dies
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- October
- 27
Tony Hillerman published his first novel in 1970 and it focused on Native Americans. Since then he wrote 17 more mystery-crime novels drawing on his intimate knowledge of the lives of Navajo and Hopi tribe members and more than 10 other novels.
Hillerman died Sunday at 83 of pulmonary failure at an Albuquerue, New Mexico hopsital, reports many publications, including Bloomberg News . (Photo to the right is from his publisher, Harper Collins).
Bookish blog posts have been flooded with glowing reports of his stories and the literary loss that his death brings. His first book was “The Blessing Way” which introduced Lt. Joe Leaphorn, and his most recent was “The Shape Shifter.”
Huffingtonpost.com quotes his daughter Ann recalling her father as a natural-born storyteller who tried to stop writing in 2002 because of medical ailments and saying he was getting too old. But fortunately for his fans, he just couldn’t put his pen down. This blog’s feature is a wonderful recap of his life.
Now, I must admit I have never taken up his stories. So to gain some insight I made some calls.
The always helpful and knowledgeable booksellers at Second Story Bookshop, 75 North Greeley Avenue in Chappaqua report that Hillerman is a perennial bestselling author.
“They are always interesting,” said Ellen, “because they are about a part of the country that many of us don’t know a lot about.” She said the store had some copies of his books on hand and would probably put them on a counter together because inevitably readers would come in to ask about him.
And The Journal News/LoHud.com reporter Emily Kratzler shared this very informative insight:
“Tony Hillerman shared with readers that sense of grandeur, warmth and majestic harshness that is the Southwest. All the characters he created were realistic human beings, not stereotypes. You felt that he treated both the Anglo and Native peoples with respect and helped you understand them, even when those people “went wrong.â€
“The lore he wove into the stories helps non-Native people have more respect for the people whose ancestors have lived here for thousands of years.
“Like others who’ve visited the region, I could relate to the places and people he wrote about. When Hillerman talked about the old and new ways, you knew what the issues were and how all people grapple with the changes that come as time passes.
“His storytelling skills meant you always had a good read and you always wanted to know about the developments in the characters’ lives that he carried from one book to another.”
This entry was posted
on Monday, October 27th, 2008 at 3:50 pm by Barbara Nackman.
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