McMurtry Bio Wins Top Award from WT’s Center for the Study of the American West

Copy by Chip Chandler, 806-651-2124, cchandler@wtamu.edu

CANYON, Texas — A new biography of one of the state’s most storied writers is the 2024 Bonney MacDonald Award for Outstanding Western Book from the  Center for the Study of the American West  at West Texas A&M University.

A CSAW panel awarded the top prize to Tracy Daugherty’s “Larry McMurtry: A Life,” published in September 2023 by St. Martin’s Press. A Pulitzer Prize-finalist, Daugherty’s book examines McMurtry’s 60-plus-year career as a novelist and Academy Award-winning screenwriter in the first comprehensive biography of the Texas native.

“I’m deeply honored to receive this prestigious award. It’s especially meaningful to me to be recognized by my home state and region,” said Daugherty, a Midland native and prolific novelist, essayist and biographer. “I was inspired to write about Larry McMurtry because he was instrumental in creating a literary and history-conscious culture in West Texas, the likes of which awards like this celebrate.”

Photo: Sarah Keyes

Runner-up was Sarah Keyes’ “American Burial Ground: A New History of the Overland Trail,” published in October 2023 by University of Pennsylvania Press. The nonfiction book, Keyes’ publishing debut, tells of the harrowing journey and thousands of lives lost when easterners crossed the Plains in covered wagons.

“I am beyond thrilled that colleagues at the Center for the Study of the American West have selected my book as the runner-up for this award,” Keyes said. “It is truly an honor to join such an illustrious group of thinkers and writers who have produced important works on the American West.”

Daugherty will accept his award and offer a reading from his book at a later date.

“Tracy Daugherty’s captivating biography of one of Texas’s finest writers has inspired me to read more Larry McMurtry—everything from ‘Lonesome Dove’ and ‘The Last Picture Show’ to McMurtry’s memoir about his years as a bookseller and his incisive essay about the Houston Astrodome,” said Dr. Brian Ingrassia, WT associate professor of history and chair of the selection committee. “What an excellent literary biography.”

Wade Shaffer, WT professor of history and CSAW associate director, concurred.

“Tracy Daugherty’s richly detailed biography of Larry McMurtry provides a compelling and insightful examination of the life of a writer who helped reshape our understanding of the American West,” Shaffer said. “Highly readable and entertaining, this book will appeal both to the general public and to scholars seeking insights into one of the leading literary figures of the last 50 years.”

Daugherty has published two books in 2024: the nonfiction “We Shook Up the World: The Spiritual Rebellion of Muhammad Ali and George Harrison” and the novel “Tales from the Bayou City,” both in April.

CSAW has given the Bonney McDonald Outstanding Western Book Award annually since 2019.

“Our book award at CSAW is named after WT’s professor of English and western American literature, my colleague Dr. Bonney MacDonald, and so it’s pleasing to me that this year’s winner is the biography of a novelist who has made great contributions to the literature of Texas, and our region,” said Dr. Alex Hunt, CSAW director, Regents Professor of English and Vincent-Haley Professor of Western Studies. “Like his biographer Daugherty, Larry McMurtry also has some west Texas roots, so this all comes together nicely.” 

Promoting regional research is a key aim of the University’s long-range plan,  WT 125: From the Panhandle to the World .

That plan is fueled by the historic  One West  comprehensive fundraising campaign, which reached its initial $125 million goal 18 months after publicly launching in September 2021. The campaign’s new goal is to reach $175 million by 2025; currently, it has raised more than $160 million.

Books on the American West published in 2024 can be submitted for consideration for the 2025 MacDonald Award. More information can be found at  wtamu.edu/museum/csaw/csaw-book-award .

About the Center for the Study of the American West

CSAW was formed in fall 2016 with a mission of fostering the study of the American West at West Texas A&M University and building bridges between the university, the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum and the regional populace. CSAW seeks to promote the American West both as a culturally unique region and as a product of broad historical forces. For more information about CSAW and upcoming events, please visit  wtamu.edu/csaw .

About West Texas A&M University

WT, a Regional Research University, is redefining excellence in Canyon, Texas, on a 342-acre residential campus, as well as the Harrington Academic Hall WTAMU Amarillo Center in downtown Amarillo. Established in 1910, the University has been part of The Texas A&M University System since 1990. WT, a Hispanic Serving Institution since 2016, boasts an enrollment of more than 9,000 and offers 58 undergraduate degree programs, one associate degree, and 44 graduate degrees, including an integrated bachelor’s and master’s degree, a specialist degree and two doctoral degrees. The University is also home to the Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum, the largest history museum in the state and the home of one of the Southwest’s finest art collections. The Buffaloes are a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference and offers 14 men’s and women’s athletics programs.

—WT—