Tony Hillerman [1925-2008] Page at 'Readers of the Purple Sage'

Anthony 'Tony' Hillerman is best known as the author of a series of mystery novels taking place
on the Navajo Nation reservation and involving either Jim Chee or Joe Leaphorn or both.

Anthony Grove 'Tony' Hillerman was born on 27 May 1925 in Sacred Heart, Oklahoma, where he was raised among the Cherokee people. He served in combat in Europe during World War II, and earned the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and a Purple Heart. He married Marie Unzner in August 1948; they had six children. He worked as a journalist in Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico from 1948 to 1962, then finished his degree and taught journalism at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. His writing career was very successful, and he retired from U.N.M. in 1987.

Lt. Joe Leaphorn of the Navajo Tribal Police was introduced in "The Blessing Way" [1970]; Sgt. Jim Chee was introduced in the fourth book, "People of Darkness" [1980]. Hillerman won the Edgar Award for Best Novel in 1974 from the Mystery Writers of America, and received the M.W.A.'s Grand Master Award in 1991. He also received the Navajo Tribe's Special Friends of The Diné Award, the Nero Award (for "Coyote Waits" [1990]), and the Robert Kirsch Award for Lifetime Achievement from the Los Angeles Times Book Review.

He died 26 October 2008 after a writing career that produced 18 Leaphorn-Chee novels, 12 other books of fiction, and a wide range of non-fiction works. His daughter Anne Hillerman manages his estate & legacy.

"The Shape Shifter" [#18 Nov 2006]

A retired cop friend sends Joe Leaphorn a photograph showing a rug that may have figured in a case that they worked together. When the man disappears and is found murdered, Leaphorn enlists the aid of Jim Chee and his bride Bernadette, just back from their honeymoon.
Harper mass pb [1/2008] for $9.99
HarperCollins 9¼x6¼ hardcover [11/2006] for $17.79

	"People of The Plains: The Emigrants" [#1 = 1996] by Ken Englade Following the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, Second Lieutenant Jean Benoit and Army surgeon Lt. Jason Dobbs are assigned there, and find the Brulé Sioux and the Cheyenne have begun massacring settlers. HarperTorch mass pb [1/96] out of print/many used author's official website
	"People of The Plains: The Tribes" [#2 = 1996] by Ken Englade In 1855: The U.S. Army retaliates for the Grattan Massacre with an attack on an encampment of unsuspecting Sioux. Much of the book is from the point-of-view of the Arapahos, the Brulé Sioux, the Cheyenne and the Pawnee people. HarperTorch mass pb [4/96] out of print/many used
	"People of The Plains: The Soldiers" [#3 = 1996] by Ken Englade In 1855: The U.S. Army begins gearing up for the inevitable War Between The States. HarperTorch mass pb [10/96] out of print/many used
	"People of The Plains: Battle Cry" [#4 = 1997] by Ken Englade In 1857: Cheyenne warrior Red Horse seeks revenge against Blizzard, a renegade Lakota who killed his brother (in the prior book "The Tribes"), while the U.S. Army takes the field against the Indians. The two main forces meet on the banks of the Solomon River in Kansas, and the Cheyenne are routed. HarperCollins mass pb [8/00] out of print/many used
	"Brothers In Blood" [#5 = 1998] by Ken Englade In 1858: Second Lieutenant Jean Benoit is promoted to captain and transferred to Fort Marcy in Santa Fe, New Mexico Territory where he finds himself in the middle of a turf war between Bishop Jean-Baptiste Lamy and his powerful & corrupt enemies. HarperTorch mass pb [2/98] out of print/many used
	"Cold Justice: Where Renegades Rule" [#6 = 1998] by Will Camp A rogue group of Chiricahua Apaches wreak bloody war against the white invaders, and a pack of scalp hunters chase them down for the government bounties on the Apaches's heads. HarperTorch mass pb [6/98] out of print/many used
	"Comanche Trail" [#7 = 1999] by Will Camp In 1859: As rumors of war between the North and South filter into the New Mexico Territory from the East, Army Capt. Jean Benoit must rescue his friend, Army surgeon Lt. Jason Dobbs, who has been captured by Comanches. HarperTorch mass pb [4/99] out of print/many used Harper ABR audio [3/2001] for $9.99 Harper ABR audio [10/99] out of print/used

Anne Hillerman
Tony Hillerman's daughter Anne manages his estate and legacy, which includes the Tony Hillerman
Writer's Conference in New Mexico in November, and the Tony Hillerman Prize (deadline June 1,
presented at the Conference). She is an award-winning journalist and has written several books.

	"Kilroy Was There: A GI's War In Photographs" [2004] by Tony Hillerman & Frank Kessler The U.S. Army's Signal Corps in World War II assigned camera units to document the fighting on the ground. This book reveals what one man witnessed from the beaches on D-Day in June 1944 to the liberation of Berlin in May 1945; compiled & organized by Hillerman from the photo archives of Kessler [1915-90]. Kent State Univ Press 11¼x8½ hardcover [5/2004] for $25.00
	"Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir" [2001] Harper 8x5.4 pb [10/2002] for $11.16 HarperCollins 9½x6½ hardcover [10/2001] for $18.20 Harper UNABR audio [10/2001] for $27.97
	"Tony Hillerman's Indian Country Map & Guide" [1998] by Time Traveler Maps Time Traveler Maps 2nd edition 9¼x5 pb [11/2002] for $14.95 Time Traveler Maps 1st edition 9¾x4¾ pb [11/98] out of print/used
	"The Best American Mystery Stories of The Century" [2000] Edited by Tony Hillerman & Otto Penzler Mariner Books 9x6 pb [4/2001] for $11.20 Houghton Mifflin 9¼x6.4 hardcover [4/2000] for $19.60
	"The Oxford Book of American Detective Stories" [1996] Edited by Tony Hillerman & Rosemary Herbert Oxford Univ Press 8x5¼ pb [12/97] for $13.27 Oxford Univ Press 8¾x6 hardcover [4/96] out of print/used
	"Finding Moon" [1995 novel] by Tony Hillerman In April 1975, the American owner of a helicopter service in Cambodia dies in a jungle crash. His mother hurries to Manila to pick up the dead man's baby daughter, being brought from Vietnam by smugglers. When her grandaughter does not arrive, she has a heart attack and asks her other son to find the child – just as the government of VietNam begins to crumble. Harper pb [8/96] for $6.99 Harper hardcover [8/00] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $16.99 Harper ABR audio [10/95] 4 tapes for $17.50
	"The Mysterious West" [20 original stories 1994] Edited by Tony Hillerman & Martin H. Greenberg Harper mass pb [11/95] for $7.99 HarperCollins hardcover [12/94] out of stock/used 20 new mystery tales set in Western landscapes by Robert Campbell, Bill Crider, Susan Dunlap, Linda Grant, J.A. Jance, Stuart M. Kaminsky, Karen Kijewski, M.D. Lake, Lia Matera, Marcia Muller, Bill Pronzini, Dana Stabenow and others
	"The Best of the West: An Anthology of Classic Writing from the American West" [1991] Edited by Tony Hillerman Harper 8x5¼ pb [9/92] for $12.60 HarperCollins hardcover [10/91] out of print/used
	"Talking Mysteries: A Conversation with Tony Hillerman" [1991] by Ernie Bulow, illustrated by Ernest Franklin Univ NM Press hardcover [7/91] out of print/used
	"The Great Taos Bank Robbery and Other Indian Country Affairs" [1980] by Tony Hillerman Harper &7frac34x5½ pb [10/2001] for $10.40 HarperTorch mass pb [3/97] out of print/many, many used Univ NM Press 8x5 pb [6/80] out of print/many, many used Topeka Bindery 8x5½ library hardcover [7/2003] for $17.78 Harper ABR audio [3/94] for $13.00
	"Buster Mesquite's Cowboy Band" children's book [ages 9-12; 1973] by Tony Hillerman, Illustrated by Ernest Franklin A burro loses his job and starts a band, with the help of a coyote, a wildcat, and a crow. Sidewinder Publishing 9x10¾ hardcover [2006] for $14.95 Buffalo Medicine Books 8¾x10½ hardcover [7/2001] out of print/used
	"The Fly On The Wall" [1971 novel] by Tony Hillerman After a fellow reporter is murdered, John Cotton locates the man's notebook and then bad things begin happening – someone stashes a dead body in his car, then sets up a bomb at his apartment, and then his girlfriend disappears. Harper pb [5/90] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [9/71] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $15.00 Harper ABR audio [4/2000] for $9.99

	Jim Chee's friend & fellow officer Delbert Nez is shot and then his patrol car burned; a drunken old Navajo is found nearby with the murder weapon, but he refuses to talk, even to his assigned tribal attorney, Janet Pete. Harper pb [1/92] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [7/90] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $15.00 Harper ABR audio [7/90] out of stock/used
	PBS Mystery!: "Coyote Waits" tv movie [airdate 18 Nov 2003] Directed by Jan Egleson; starring Adam Beach, Alex Rice, Wes Studi, Sheila Tousey & Gary Farmer PBS widescreen DVD [1/2004] for $26.08 PBS color VHS [1/2004] for $24.98 full credits at IMDb; PBS 'Coyote Waits' movie site

	A famous anthropologist disappears, and two modern bodies are found at an ancient burial site, and Joe Leaphorn & Jim Chee team up again to solve a string of murders. Harper mass pb [1/90] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [6/88] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] for $15.00 Harper ABR audio [2/2002] for $9.99
	PBS Mystery!: "Thief of Time" tv movie [airdate 11 July 2004] Directed by Chris Eyre; starring Adam Beach, Alex Rice, Wes Studi, Sheila Tousey & Peter Fonda DVD [7/2004] for $17.49 VHS [7/2004] for $24.98 full credits at IMDb; PBS 'Thief of Time' website

	A disfigured corpse, a mysterious airplane crash in the dead of night, bizarre attacks on a windmill, and a missing shipment of cocaine trap Sgt. Jim Chee in a deadly web. Harper pb [1/900] for $6.99 HarperCollins hardcover [3/82] out of print/used EconoClad hardcover [10/99] out of print/used Harper ABR audio [3/93] for $12.60
	"Dark Wind" [video release 1991] Directed by Errol Morris; starring Lou Diamond Phillips & Fred Ward Lions Gate/Fox color DVD [12/2003] for $10.99 Avid Home Ent color VHS [4/95] out of stock/used full credits from IMDb

	"The Tony Hillerman Companion: A Comprehensive Guide To His Life & Work" [1994] Edited by Martin H. Greenberg HarperCollins mass pb [5/95] out of print/many used HarperCollins 9¾x6½ hardcover [10/94] out of print/many used
	"Tony Hillerman: A Critical Companion" [1996] by John M. Reilly Greenwood Press 9½x6¼ hardcover [8/96] for $46.95

Readers of the Purple Sage BookstoreTony Hillerman

Readers of the Purple Sage Bookstore
Tony Hillerman