The
Washington Times reports on the death of writer Charles Portis, the author of
True Grit, which was made into a classic Western film starring John Wayne.
Novelist
Charles Portis, a favorite among critics and writers for such shaggy dog
stories as “Norwood” and “Gringos” and a bounty for Hollywood whose droll,
bloody Western “True Grit” was a best-seller twice adapted into Oscar nominated
films, died Monday at age 86.
Portis,
a former newspaper reporter who apparently learned enough to swear off talking
to the media, had been suffering from Alzheimer’s in recent years. His brother,
Jonathan Portis, told The Associated Press that he died in a hospice in Little
Rock, Arkansas, his longtime residence.
Charles
Portis was among the most admired authors to nearly vanish from public
consciousness in his own lifetime. His fans included Tom Wolfe, Roy Blount Jr.
and Larry McMurtry, and he was often compared to Mark Twain for his plainspoken
humor and wry perspective.
Portis
saw the world from the ground up, from bars and shacks and trailer homes, and
few spun wilder and funnier stories. In a Portis novel, usually set in the
South and south of the border, characters embarked on journeys that took the
most unpredictable detours.
You can
read the rest of the piece via the below link:
No comments:
Post a Comment