Larry McMurtry Reimagines Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday in the Twilight of Their Lives
Posted on May 22, 2014
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Larry McMurtry (Lonesome Dove) said five years ago that Rhino Ranch was his last fiction book and that he was done writing. But his fans are quite happy that he changed his mind. He just published his 46th book called The Last Kind Words Saloon. The book tells the story about the end of the Western frontier life through the eyes of the legendary Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday.
McMurtry spoke with The Dallas Morning News' Michael Granberry about why he changed his mind. In his usual fashion, McMurtry didn't explain much saying "Oh, I don't know, you never know about these things." Well, we're glad he changed his mind. Perhaps he got bored.
McMurtry says the title is based on a blues song called "Last Kind Words Blues." He said that the New York Times did a piece on the song which was recorded in Wisconsin and was quite hard to find. McMurtry liked the title and it inspired the story. The book follows the friendship of Earp and Holiday, using the locations so familiar to history buffs. The two are at the end of their legendary careers and trying to come to terms with that when the end up in Tombstone, Arizona, for the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.
McMurtry suffered a severe heart attack and spent a year recovering, but he says he is feeling better. He says he is really active and still runs his bookstore in Archer City, Texas. He hasn't said if there is another novel in his future, but this time he didn't say he was finished writing.
