Biography

Larry Jeff McMurtry (1936-2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work is predominantly set in either the old West or in contemporary Texas. He is known for his 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove, a historical saga that follows ex-Texas Rangers as they drive their cattle from the Rio Grande to a new home in the frontier of Montana, and for co-writing the adapted screenplay for Brokeback Mountain. Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries, his novels Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975) were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations (13 wins).