Legendary native son Larry McMurtry dies at 84

“It’s been quite a party ain’t it?” Gus McCrae said in “Lonesome Dove.”

The world lost a gem when Larry McMurtry passed away Thursday, March 25, at the age of 84. An Archer City native, he will long be remembered in the class of great American authors such as John Steinbeck and William Faulkner, leaving behind classics to be read by future generations.

His best known novels include “The Last Picture Show,” “Terms of Endearment,” “Horseman Pass By” and “Lonesome Dove,” the last of which earned him the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1986. The first three were made into movies and “Lonesome Dove” was made into a very popular television miniseries, still watched over and over by many fans. McMurtry wrote numerous novels, essays, and was also a screenwriter, winning an Academy Award with his cowriter for “Brokeback Mountain.”

On Sept. 12, 2014, President Barack Obama honored Larry McMurtry in a White House Ceremony in the East Room with the National Humanities Medal. This was an exciting and proud time for the Archer County News as we were granted press privileges to attend and cover the story as President Obama hung the medal around McMurtry’s neck.

But what was Larry McMurtry really like as a person?

McMurtry was a 1954 graduate of Archer City High School where he enjoyed playing basketball, tennis and running track. He was active in the band and competed in literary events.

According to a former classmate and life-long friend who requested to remain anonymous, “Larry was just a regular guy. He was very smart in school, but he was very modest and soft-spoken. He was always soft-hearted and for the underdog. If he saw someone being mistreated, he let it be known that he did not want that happening again in his presence.”

McMurtry was a very private person which was easy to recognize if one knew him at all. His sister, Judy McLemore, of Archer City, agreed, but she characterized him as the “kindest, most generous and intelligent man she has known.”

“He never failed to do something if someone asked him to help others in need," she said. "He helped so many people in life most people know nothing about.”

She chuckled as she described McMurtry as a man “born with an unimaginable amount of brain power, almost too smart for his own good at times.”

“Larry lived a good life,” McLemore said. “He told me once he wasn’t afraid to die; he was just afraid he wouldn’t get all the books read that he needed to get read. I told him, 'Larry you have been reading since you were four. Surely you have most of them read.' He replied, 'No, I’m not even close.'”

McLemore said, “He never sought things. They just came. Whenever he won an award he would take them to his mother when she resided at the Manor in Wichita Falls and let her place them where she wanted. He took his Academy Award to reside at the Lonesome Dove Inn with his friend Mary Webb for years.”

In April of 2011, McMurtry married Faye Kesey, widow of author Ken Kesey, known for his novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoos’ Nest.” Larry had known Faye and Ken since attending college at Rice University in Houston. The simple wedding ceremony took place in McMurtry’s bookstore in Archer City. He was kind enough to let the Archer County News cover the story.

“Faye was a wonderful wife to Larry,” according to McLemore. “She took very good care of him. Faye is very intelligent, very polite and a good Christian woman. Larry was a very lucky man.”

They divided much of their time between homes in Archer City and Arizona. As his health declined, trips to Archer City became less frequent since his doctors were established in Arizona

McMurtry was most proud of his son James McMurtry from his first marriage and his grandson Curtis. James is a well-known musician, singer-song writer and Curtis is following in his dad’s footsteps with his own genre of music. He lent James and Curtis his encouragement to follow their dreams and had a very close relationship with them both.

People came from all over the world to Archer City to get a glimpse of the town where McMurtry grew up and visit his bookstores as well as the Royal Theater made famous in “The Last Picture Show.” Many were hopeful to find him working in his bookstore or see him eating in Murn’s, the local café.

Many locals were wanting to rename a street after him in Archer City or create a large banner saying “Home of Larry McMurtry.” But he did not seek or want this recognition. He said, “They can do all of this when I’m dead.”

As of now, no memorial service has been scheduled. Niece Mitzi McLemore King said, “He was very private as we all know. He left his wishes with his son James.”

McMurtry will be missed in Archer City. Locals rarely bothered him and it was a normal occurrence to see him walking down the street pulling a dolly full of books from one of his bookstores to the other. But he left us with wonderful memories with his treasured books and the fun of being involved in the filming of “The Last Picture Show” and “Texasville” in our town where many locals took part as extras.

Larry is survived by his wife Faye, his son James and grandson Curtis along with his sisters Sue Dean, Judy McLemore, and brother Charlie McMurtry. He had many nieces and nephews, and great nieces and nephews of whom he was very proud.

The question many have now; did he leave us with another novel? That is something we can only speculate about and hope for.

Rest in Peace, Larry McMurtry.