Monday, October 27, 2008

RIP Tony Hillerman

The word is spreading that one of mystery's greats has passed away. I've only read a few of Hillerman's books so I can't say I was a big fan, but I did enjoy his work. When you read Hillerman, you were walking through Navajo land and only by lifting your eyes from the page did the desert and mountains disappear and you'd blink your eyes and wonder where Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn had disappeared too.

I'll leave you with a quote from Hillerman that's in his book "Talking Mysteries". After reading this, I didn't feel so guilty about playing solitare instead of writing as my mind worked through a scene.

"Most of all, I do this creating of scenes while sprawled, apparently comatose, on an old sofa in our living room, or sitting on said sofa playing a solitaire game called Spider, which requires two decks but no imagination. Thus it is absolutely impossible to tell whether I am writing or loafing. My wife always gives me the benefit of the doubt."

Rest in peace gentle giant of mysteries.

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