'Knowing the landscape best'

 

“An author knows his landscape best;he can stand around, smell the wind, get a feel for his place.” –Tony Hillerman

 

Born in Oklahoma on this date in1925, Hillerman (who died in 2008) is best known for his Navajo Tribal Policemysteries featuring two iconic police officers – Joe Leaphorn and JimChee.  Several of his books have been adapted into movies and television series, including A Dark Wind and themultiple-award winner A Thief of Time.

 

Hillerman moved to New Mexico, the setting for his books, afterWorld War II.  Starting his writing career as a journalist in Santa Fe, he eventually moved toAlbuquerque where he both wrote for newspapers and earned a master’s degree inwriting.  While covering the crime news he met a Navajo sheriff whobecame the model for Leaphorn and sparked the idea for his first book TheBlessing Way. 

 

Ultimately, he wrote 18 books in theseries, now continued by a dozen more from his daughter Anne, who has added a popularthird crime-solving cop – Bernadette Manuelito –  into the mix. 

 

While Tony Hillerman may be bestknown for that series, he left a much deeper legacy, writing more than 30books, including a memoir and several about the Southwest, both its beauty and itshistory.   Given numerous awards, he saidtwo of the most meaningful came from the Navajo Nation and the Department ofthe Interior, recognizing his attention to Native culture and his encouragementfor nature and the land. 

 

In response to accolades for hiswriting, he noted, “You write for both yourself and your audience, who areusually better educated and at least as smart as you are.”