1. From the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome
Dove to books like Horseman, Pass By and The Last
Kind Words Saloon, America has seen the Old West through the
eyes of Larry McMurtry. McMurtry’s lifelong pursuit began with
just an inheritance of a small sack of books. In fact, the greatest
romance of Larry McMurtry’s life may actually be with the written
page. The enchantment and thrill of cracking open a new book has
not only captivated McMurtry his whole life. It has also played a
larger role, leading McMurtry to write works that, in part, deflated
the previously skewed narratives of the Texas Cowboy. These new
stories helped shape the way America now sees the Old West.
Written By: Rebecca Canfield
PhotoProvidedBy:JamesandCurtisMcMurtry
Photo Provided By: Diana Ossana
PhotoProvidedBy:DianaOssana

2. Before McMurtry, Westerns, either in book form or on the large
screen, consisted mainly of gunfights, stagecoach robberies, and
romances that ended with cowboys riding into the sunset, which left
the actual story of cowboy life untold. The memories of his own youth,
like ranching on the hills of Idiot Ridge, contained vivid threads of truth
waiting to be shared.
,EARLY LIFE
Perhaps the greatest irony of McMurtry’s life is that his attempts to
escape frontier life actually allowed him to bring frontier life to a new
audience. In the end, it also brought him back to the frontier—at least
geographically.
Born on June 3, 1936 in Archer County, Texas, Larry McMurtry’s life
began as the son of rancher William Jefferson McMurtry, Jr. (Jeff Mac)
and Hazel Ruth McIver. A silent workaholic who rarely took breaks and
detested laziness in others, Jeff Mac trained young Larry to be a rancher.
Yet the life, that seemed as natural as breathing to Jeff Mac, fit Larry like
two left shoes, and Larry’s pony was as likely to scrape him off as it was
to let him ride it. However, at age six, a gift of 19 books from Larry’s
cousin Bob, who was joining the military, opened his eyes to an exciting
new world.
Throughout his childhood, McMurtry could often be found
sneaking away from ranching, imagining he was a Canadian
Mountie in Sergeant Silk, the Prairie Scout or envisioning that
he was off with Don Quixote on one of his adventures. By
middle school, McMurtry was so enthralled with a new set of
encyclopedias, his parents had all but given up getting Larry to
train his 4H show calf or to take an interest in saddles or spurs. When
in 1954 Larry decided to enroll at Rice University, his father was not
surprised and instead embraced, as well as he could, his son’s divergent
destiny. Once at Rice, the repressed reader devoured the library like a
ravenous dog devours table scraps.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS <While studying at Rice, McMurtry futilely tried his hand at writing
his own stories. After failing a Calculus course, he transferred to
the University of North Texas where he received a Bachelor of Arts
degree. Following college graduation, McMurtry married fellow
North Texas student and writer Josephine Ballard in 1959. He went
on to earn a Master of Arts from Rice University in 1960. While
studying, McMurtry began writing about everything but ranching.
His attempts were somewhat fruitless. After a reluctant return to the
topic of ranching, however, McMurtry created a series of short stories,
which he later intertwined and eventually turned into his first novel
Horseman, Pass By. Published in 1961, the book was a literary success,
winning a Jesse H. Jones Award from the Texas Institute of Letters. The
book launched McMurtry’s writing career and the several novels that
followed including Leaving Cheyenne and The Last Picture Show, both
stories which examined his Texas roots.
McMurtry was later awarded a Walter Stegner creative writing
fellowship at Stanford University, where he studied fiction under
Malcolm Coley and Frank O’Connor. During this time McMurtry
also became a rare-book scout, which only increased his love of
book collecting.
In 1962, McMurtry’s only son James was born in Fort Worth,
Texas where his father was teaching at Texas Christian University.
The following year McMurtry returned to Rice to teach English and
Creative Writing until 1964. He taught at Rice again from 1965 to 1969
but took a break to focus on fiction writing in 1964 after winning the
Guggenheim Fellowship. In 1966, McMurtry’s marriage to Josephine
Ballard ended after which he began raising his son James alone.
In 1969, McMurtry left Texas to take a teaching position at George
Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia after which he moved to
Washington D.C. in 1970 where he taught at American University and
opened his first rare book shop, Booked Up. He later added Booked Up
locations in Archer City, Texas and Tucson, Arizona. He continued to
write novels into the 1970’s including Terms of Endearment, which was
adapted as a successful academy award-winning screenplay in 1983.
His most successful piece of work to date by far is his 1985 novel
Lonesome Dove, which won the Pulitzer Prize and was adapted for TV
mini-series in 1986. His 2005 screenplay Brokeback Mountain also won
an Academy Award. To date, Larry McMurtry has written 47 novels
and numerous screenplays. He is currently working on a new memoir
entitled 62 Women along with several screenplays that are still in
the works.
,TEXAS ROOTS
The inspiration, which sparked McMurtry's writing career, began
early in life growing up on the Texas frontier. He was one of a few
living witnesses to the demise of an era which began for him with the
two most notable figures in his family history. His granddad was an
amiable mustachioed Scot named William Jefferson McMurtry, Sr. and
his formidable and sometimes frightening grandmother was the tight-
lipped and tough-skinned Louisa Francis Williams. They were pioneers
from Missouri who settled in Denton, Texas in 1877; a time where
relations between Texas settlers and natives were still uncertain. They
moved to Archer County 10 years later to carve out a streamside ranch
on the untouched slope of Idiot Ridge where they purchased land for a
mere $3 an acre.
The stream was a favorite watering place for cattle drivers, and the
McMurtrys settled the surrounding area. The 12 McMurtry offspring
often stared wide-eyed at the passing cattle-drivers, enthralled at the
sight of the cowboys they idolized. Thus began the stories of famous
cowboys that would blanket Larry’s youth. Although Larry didn’t
take to ranching, he was attentive and observant, always watching and
listening to stories of the famous cowboys told by and lived out in the
lives of uncles, neighbors, and friends. He was captivated by stories of
ranching life, yet still felt largely mismatched to it himself.
“My fascination was with books, the way they
looked, hefted, were printed, smelled, and of course,
what was inside of them …
I found my thing, reading and never abandoned it …"
an excerpt from the McMurtry's autobiography,
Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen.
LIFESTYLES
March 2015 | 11

3. In adulthood, McMurtry found that the further away he roamed and
the more he read, the more perplexed he became about the western
genre’s portrayal of cowboys. The struggle, heartbreak, loneliness
and often sad outcome of the Texas cowboy had been traded for a
romanticized façade that held little truth, at least in Archer County.
Broken-down cowboys, nearly crippled and impoverished, would
rope themselves into their saddles, sweating until their last breath to
holdtheonlylifetheyknew.Larry’sfather,whotookafterhisworkhorse
of a mother, spent his rigid, taxing existence attempting to hold on to
the Old West by shear force. Jeff Mac lived to see his life’s work dwindle
but worked his ranch until his last moments on earth.
After Jeff Mac’s death in 1977, Larry would return to Archer City
with intentions to connect to his roots. Though his relationship with
his father was baffling, McMurtry realized that the stabling force of his
life was suddenly gone, and the absence it left was stifling. To this day,
Larry lives in Archer City and, though he repeatedly contends that he
is done with writing about the west, he cannot seem to escape the hold
that ranching and Archer City has on his soul.
PASSING THE TORCH <It has been reported widely that Larry McMurtry and his father Jeff
Mac were undeniably different and not much was passed from father to
son,butcloserinspectionconfirmsthepairwasmorealikethantheyever
knew. Both appreciated education, as Jeff Mac was secretly a Clarendon
College graduate. Both boasted stubborn and direct personalities, and
it can still be said that fierce determination has been a trait passed on to
future generations. The independent McMurtry mindset, which does
not seem to require approval, can be seen of McMurtry’s son James and
grandson Curtis.
James McMurtry, a singer/songwriter, has been touted amongst his
peers as one of the best living songwriters; a trait possibly acquired by
watching his father write at home.
James began writing songs as a child and has been playing guitar since
the age of seven. He did not set out to learn writing from his father,
James said, but has naturally absorbed some of his father’s writing skills.
Still, his career did not take an positive turn until he won the 1987 New
Folk Songwriting Contest. Around the same time, McMurtry had the
chance to pass a demo tape to singer/songwriter John Mellencamp,
who was also an actor in one of Larry’s screenplays.
Mellencamp, said James, was instantly on board. It was September,
and James only had until February to write ten songs for Melloncamp.
The resulting album was rather successful, and James has been writing
music ever since.
James’s third album Childish Things was critically praised, winning
Album of the Year at the Americana Music Awards in Nashville.
Additionally, James has dabbled in acting, appearing as an extra in a
few of his father’s films including the famous Lonesome Dove. He has
also produced 11 different rock albums. A new album is set to debut
in February 2015 titled Complicated Games. James currently resides in
Austin, TX and is a regular musician at the Continental Club there.
In turn, James’ son Curtis McMurtry is also a singer/songwriter. He
wrotehisfirstsongatagefourandspentthemajorityofhisteenageyears
writing music. After studying music composition and ethnomusicology
at Sarah Lawrence College in New York, Curtis returned to Austin after
living in Nashville post-graduation.
In contrast to his father’s musical roots, Curtis’s musical training
has been more varied. This can be heard in his songs with the sounds
of strings, horns, and jazz solos. While James’ music is influenced by
artists like Johnny Cash, Curtis has a penchant for Tom Waits, Leonard
Cohen, and Sam Cooke. Curtis is appreciative of what he has learned
from both his father and grandfather. “I learned a lot from my dad by
being around him. I think his songwriting is the best thing ever to come
out of Texas,” said Curtis, “I hold myself to a higher standard because
of his work.”
Curtis has received high praise for his first album, Respectable Enemy
and is currently touring in Texas and Oklahoma. He lives in Austin and
is set to appear throughout the Austin area in the month of February.
Hosting three successful generations of writers, it is easy to see how the
McMurtry legacy that began in the 1880s on a hill called Idiot Ridge has
produced what can only be referred to as pure genius.
For details on Larry McMurtry, visit his blog at www.flashandfiligree.
com.ForJamesMcMurtryvisitwww.jamesmcmurtry.com,andforCurtis
McMurtry visit www.curtismcmurtrymusic.com.
“James McMurtry writes songs filled with
characters so real that you're sure they're going to
climb out of the speakers and look you in the eyes”
Voice of America.
“I learned a lot from my
dad by being around him.
I think his songwriting
is the best thing ever to
come out of Texas,”
said Curtis,
I hold myself to a higher
standard because of
his work.”
PhotoProvidedBy:JamesandCurtisMcMurtry
PhotoProvidedBy:DianaOssana
LIFESTYLES
12 | March 2015