McMurtry merged identity and place
How late novelist’s early work obliterated Western cliches By David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times
Published: April 1, 2021, 6:02am
Share: U.S. President Barack Obama presents the 2014 National Humanities Medal to Larry McMurtry during an East Room ceremony at the White House on Sept. 10, 2015, in Washington, D.C. Larry McMurtry was honored for his books, essays and screenplays. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)
When I think of Larry McMurtry – who died on Thursday at 84 – I recall a photograph taken in the late 1960s or early 1970s: a portrait of the artist as a young man. In it, he plays with a cat while wearing a sweatshirt emblazoned with the slogan “Minor Regional Novelist.” Such an image almost perfectly reflects what made McMurtry such a feisty talent, self-deprecating and pointed by turns.