Monday, October 27, 2008

Tony Hillerman, 1925-2008: R.I.P.

Tony Hillerman, the author of the acclaimed mysteries set on the Navajo Indian Reservation in the Four Corners area of the US, has died of heart failure.

What I liked about Hillerman's novels was that his two protagonists, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, were allowed to be human and make human errors, unlike many fictional detectives. You got a sense of the desolation of the Navajo Reservation when Hillerman wrote, especially the descriptions of the cold winters.

I remember seeing Hillerman on Bill Maher's old show Politically Incorrect on one occasion, arguing for nuclear power against singer Graham Nash.

I'm going to miss his fine novels.

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