Larry McMurtry, a prolific writer who wrote mainly about the American West and who won a Pulitzer for the novel “Lonesome Dove”, died, a family spokesman said on Thursday. He was 84 years old.
Spokesperson Amanda Lundberg confirmed McMurtry’s death to NBC News on Friday. No other details were immediately available.
Over half a century, McMurtry wrote almost 50 books, including novels, scripts, collections of essays and memoirs that were predominantly set in the West. Several of his early works became films, including Oscar winners “The Last Picture Show” and “Terms of Endearment”.
His 1985 epic novel “Lonesome Dove”, which focused on a cattle trip from Texas to the Great Plains, was later adapted into a television miniseries starring actors Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones and Danny Glover.
The four-part television series received much acclaim, including 18 Emmy nominations and seven victories.
In a 2014 interview with The Associated Press, McMurtry said the novel was “a kind of demythologization of the myth of the Wild West”.
Later, McMurtry and his longtime collaborator Diana Ossana won an Oscar for best screenplay adapted for the 2005 film, “Brokeback Mountain”, which was based on a short story by Annie Proulx.
He graduated from North Texas State College, which is now the University of North Texas in Denton, and attended a master’s degree at Rice University in Houston.
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