Obit: RIP: Author Tony Hillerman (1925-2008)

Subject: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: artbrooks
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 08:27 AM

Tony Hillerman, mystery writer and Anglo chronicler of the Dineh (Navaho), died in Albuquerque last night.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Emma B
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 08:29 AM

I love his books - a sad loss.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Roger the Skiffler
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 10:00 AM

I'm another fan of his work. Shame.

RtS

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Desert Dancer
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 10:30 AM

We'll miss him.

The AP story laments the failure of the one movie made, but doesn't mention the PBS productions, which I thought came out quite well.

~ Becky in Tucson

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Dave Swan
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:01 AM

I got to spend about twenty minutes one-on-one with him about 15 years ago. What a nice guy he was; kind and funny and not in the least self important. It's time to read the series again.

I agree with Becky. The PBS adaptations are worth a look.

D

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:02 AM

Oh, darn it. I knew he was ill. He and his wife were really good friends of another couple who frequent the same used bookstore as I do. They'd recently said we couldn't expect any more books from him. It seems so sad, though I believe he enjoyed life and had a good one, as they say. No more Leaphorn and Chee.

Thanks, Mr. Hillerman and may you walk the blessing way,

kat

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:10 AM

Lucky you, Dave!

The International Herald Tribune has an excellent bio/obit on him. I liked this bit, esp.:

"Everything is connected," Jim Chee reflects in "Ghostway" (1984). "The wing of the corn beetle affects the direction of the wind, the way the sand drifts, the way the light reflects into the eye of man beholding his reality. All is part of totality, and in this totality man finds his hozro, his way of walking in harmony, with beauty all around him."

I didn't see the PBS series, but do have all of his books. Time to read them, again, indeed.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:18 AM

Awww.

I met him several times over the years, usually a writer's conferences. He was a genuine and genuinely nice guy.

He gave such an amused grin when I asked him one time "are you ever going to get Jim Chee out of that ratty trailer?"

I've been recently listening to some of his books again, I tend to read them in spurts, and I enjoy the unabridged Recorded Books. I just got to where Jim and Bernie got married (right after The Sinister Pig).

He lived a good life, a long life, and though there were critics over the years of his use of Navajo and other Indian material, he used it well and reverently and was generally well-received. He respected requests to refocus the amount he used, particularly where Jim Chee was concerned.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Maryrrf
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:27 AM

Oh I'm sorry to hear this. I enjoyed his books very much.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Alice
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:36 AM

Oh what sad news. I enjoyed all his books.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: katlaughing
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 11:57 AM

Here's another neat part:

The recognition that gladdened him most, however, was the status of Special Friend of the Dineh conferred on him in 1987 by the Navajo Nation for his honest, accurate portrayal of Navajo people and their culture. It was also a special source of pride to him that his books are taught on reservation high schools and colleges.

"Good reviews delight me when I get them," he once said. "But I am far more delighted by being voted the most popular author by the students of St. Catherine Indian school, and even more by middle-aged Navajos who tell me that reading my mysteries revived their children's interest in the Navajo Way."

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: catspaw49
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 12:11 PM

Ya' know, I'm really wearing out with the obit threads anymore.............I suppose its age that makes it so but christalmighty I'm tired of reading of the deaths of good people who through their work we all get to "know."   Why don't more flaming jackasses that I can't stand kick off?

Thank you Mr. Hillerman for the hours you spent taking me elsewhere.

Spaw

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: open mike
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 12:38 PM

Tony was one of my very favorite authors.
I read those books set in the south west
and felt as if i had been there. He was
a good ambassodor (embassador?) for tribal
peoples, and i believe was made honorary
tribe member of Navaho. His autobiography
was interesting, and showed his roots in
the Oklahoma hills in the depression, and
his WW2 experiences and his eventual entry
into journalism. His books on tape make
great travelling companions.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jkWIgFSCVdlaAcFBGsoP9_8a7apgD942Q1SG0

http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/10/27/in-appreciation-of-tony-hillerman/

http://salempress.com/Store/samples/cs_mystery/cs_mystery_hillerman.htm

http://www.umsl.edu/~smueller/

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/books/28hillerman.html?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

You might like by books by Aimee and David Thurlo

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 01:47 PM

His memoirs, "Seldom Disappointed," are full of his light humor, and well-worth reading.
He was 83. A NY Times review of the book said "He belonged to a generation that is about to disappear over the edge of history."

Not only an author, he was editor of the Santa Fe New Mexican for several years. He taught journalism at the University of New Mexico, and was chairman of the Department until he began writing full-time in 1981.

Anyone re-reading his gems or discovering them for the first time should start with the first, written in 1970, "The Blessing Way."

Departing from Dineh country, his "Fly on the Wall" is an exceptional novel.

As a former editor, I am sure that he would be lamenting the passing of the Albuquerque Tribune, which is ending publication. Only the "Journal" remains as a daily, their attitude expressed by the demand of subscription for their online summary.
I remember when families took several newspapers, with their varied viewpoints, but that day is gone, and we are left with the cries of alarm, and biased navel gazing of CNN. "...a generation about to disappear" indeed.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 03:15 PM

I've read some of his non-Indian work, but I haven't read his memoir.

Here's a link to Amazon.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: EBarnacle
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 03:47 PM

I followed the link and was surprised to find that Finding Moon, which I began yesterday, is not on Amazon. I have enjoyed all of his works that I have read.
As Heinlein said, the best that an author can receive is that he is worth reading at least once.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: GUEST,Neil D
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 03:50 PM

I loved his novels and I agree about the PBS renditions. The actor who played Joe Leaphorn was especially memorable. I read this in an obit about him this morning:
The teacher at Sacred Heart's one-room school house was rumored to be a member of the Ku Klux Klan, so Tony's parents sent him and his brother, Barney, to St. Mary's Academy, a school for Potawatomie Indian girls near Asher, Okla. It was at St. Mary's that he developed a lifelong respect for Indian culture — and an appreciation of what it means to be an outsider in your own land.
   What wonderfully inclusive parents these were for the 1930's.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: ClaireBear
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:06 PM

I got Seldom Disappointed as a book on tape from the library, read by the man himself. Quite the best way to experience it.

Walk in beauty as you walk out of the world, Tony. You have certainly left a trail of it behind you.

Claire

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:27 PM

"Finding Moon" is not only listed at amazon.com, but they list several editions, from $0.01 at auxilliary dealers to the school-library edition at $17.60 to the audio tape at $1.00 up used to $14.95 new.
A number of editions are listed at amazon.ca, used and new (audio cd new is out of stock but will be replenished and several used are on offer).

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Stilly River Sage
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 04:57 PM

I read that one.

Wes Studi played Joe Leaphorn, but I didn't think he was like the Joe Leaphorn I visualized in all of those novels. Still, Studi is a good actor and did well in the adaptation.

SRS

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: Mrrzy
Date: 27 Oct 08 - 06:34 PM

May he walk in beauty. He will be missed but rarely mentioned... (kind of like those Conspiracy Coats the conspirators could never wear).

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: CapriUni
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 02:35 PM

Awww... Gee.

Another good one gone.

One of my criteria for a good mystery is that it's still an engaging read after who know "Whodunit."

Tony Hillerman's novels consistantly met that standard.

Subject: RE: Obit: RIP: Tony Hillerman
From: GUEST,frogprince, in North Carolina
Date: 28 Oct 08 - 06:39 PM

At least we know Jim Chee and Bernie are settled in happily together. : ) He made it hard to believe that they aren't real people. His books have all been "keepers" for me.