Each life is a puzzle, composed of anywhere from hundreds to millions of pieces. Some of those pieces are small, insignificant; others are vast, momentous. Sometimes the puzzles are completed. Sometimes not. Tony Hillerman is one such puzzle, and until now, no one had put together the pieces — large and small. Santa Fe resident James McGrath Morris, a noted biographer, has done just that for the preeminent western mystery writer in his new biography Tony Hillerman: A Life. Hillerman’s legion of readers had a few pieces each. His longtime agent and editor had more, as did his many students at the University of New Mexico journalism program and his colleagues in journalism and education. His family of origin; his wife, Marie; his eldest child, Anne; and her five younger siblings had more pieces. Morris managed to put all of them together in one book. Morris, when interviewed last year by Pasatiempo and asked how best to interview someone for a story, said he “wasn’t sure, since most of the people [I write] about are long dead.” Hillerman too is dead, and Morris never met him, but he manages to bring Hillerman to life through his countless interviews with family members, friends, former students and colleagues, as well as written sources such as diaries, letters and other secondary material. More than that, Morris shows that Hillerman used the popular genre

of mystery writing to illuminate Navajo culture for non-Native Americans. Morris noted, however, that Hillerman’s success also presented some problems, including “the whole issue of cultural appropriation . . . whether he was making millions of dollars on things that didn’t belong to him.” Morris said he can relate to that issue: his biography subjects have included a woman of color (groundbreaking journalist Ethel Payne; Morris wishes he could have met her “so I could show her how her reporting from the front lines of the civil rights movement, from Alabama to Ghana, made a difference in the Black struggle for freedom”), a Jewish immigrant from the 19th-century Austro-Hungarian Empire (Joseph Pulitzer) and others with whom Morris had nothing in common, although all his subjects were “involved with the art of writing, reporting, literary matters,” something he shares with them. Anne Hillerman, Tony’'s oldest child, can relate to that connection. Like her father, his biographer and the latter's subjects, she began her writing career in journalism, gaining a degree in journalism at the University of New Mexico — while her father was chair of the Journalism Department — then working for newspapers in both Santa Fe and Albuquerque. She developed a reputation for fine reporting and writing. Then she too turned to mystery writing, picking up where her father left off after his death in 2008. She brought Tony’s protagonists Jim Chee and Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police back to life. Perhaps more important, she enlarged and brought to the forefront a Navajo woman, Bernadette Manuelito. Anne said that her father’s many readers and fans had urged her to continue the series, and she felt there were more stories to tell. Equally important was her desire to strengthen the female character introduced in her father’s later novels. When Anne had suggested to Tony that he strengthen Manuelito’s role in the series, she said he replied, “oh, honey, such a sweet idea!” And she knew then, she said, that “he would never do anything about the character, but that was a good thing because it meant I could develop her as a real police officer.” Anne Hillerman has brought Bernie to life; she becomes both more colorful and more capable in Anne’s novels. Concerning a biography of her father, Anne said she had not planned or wanted to take on such an undertaking herself, “although many years ago, Gibbs Smith, an independent publisher in Utah, suggested the idea.” She said no “because I knew I was too close to the subject to be objective.” When Morris asked about writing Tony Hillerman’s biography, Anne said she was thrilled and encouraged him to do so, along with urging her family and her father’s friends and colleagues to cooperate with Morris. As literary executor, she gave Morris permission to quote from her father’s works, letters and other written material. This effort resulted in a contractual arrangement in which Tony Hillerman: A Life is an “independently written biography, not an authorized or a commissioned work.” Like a well-written obituary (Morris acknowledges that obituaries spurred his interest in biographical writing when he was a teenager), Tony Hillerman: A Life gives the reader all the facts and background of the novelist. More than that, Morris tells the late writer’s life in a compelling yet compassionate way. During his research, Morris said, Navajos “welcomed me to a Blessing Way ceremony,” “archivists . . . opened their collections to me” and “river guides . . . showed me the splendor of the San Juan River” (Tony Hillerman’s favorite fishing site). He was also encouraged by the Hillerman family of several generations as well as Oklahoma monks, “with whom I broke bread.” Morris suggested that this could be his last biography. At the very least, he is “taking a break. I don’t know what’s next. It could be a novel.” In the meantime, Anne Hillerman’s sixth book, Stargazer, was released this spring. She is now working on her seventh Manuelito, Leaphom and Chee novel, The Sacred Bridge, scheduled for publication in April 2022. Kay Lockridge has spent her professional life in journalism, a pursuit that continues.

Hillerman: Where to find A Life Tony by James and McGrath by Morris Anne Stargazer Hillerman: Collected Works Bookstore

202 Galisteo St. collectedworksbookstore. com 505-988-4226 Garcia Street Books

376 Garcia St. garciastreetbooks.com 505-986-0151 op. cit. books

157 Paseo de Peralta

(in the DeVargas Center) opcit.com, 505-428-0321