For mystery, take a look at Tony Hillerman
By: Joan Ruddiman
Most lovers of the mystery genre know Tony Hillerman. He has turned out a new mystery about every two years since his first, "The Blessing Way," was published in 1970. In following the adage, "write what you know," Hillerman has built his series in the Four Corners region of New Mexico with the indomitable Lieutenant Joe Leaphorn and his protégéé Sergeant Jim Chee of the Navaho Tribal Police. When "Thief of Time" (1988) hit the New York Times Best Seller list, Hillerman’s name and fortune were made. As he notes in his memoir, booksellers stock the NY Times list, assuring a wider reading audience.
Some Hillerman fans are not big on mysteries, but are enchanted with his knowledge of the Navaho and Hopi peoples and his evocative word pictures of this region truly a "Land of Enchantment" as New Mexico is known.
I discovered Hillerman’s mysteries years ago when we vacationed in northern New Mexico. Surely this guy was Native American, as his creations of Leaphorn and Chee and his portrayal of Navajo life rang so true. Like many others, I went on a Hillerman spree, reading not only the Leaphorn/Chee mysteries, but also anything by and about the man.
Fortunately for his legions of admirers, Hillerman is not a one-hit wonder, nor is he just a mystery writer. That, his fans will say, is because Hillerman is a super storyteller. Over the years, Hillerman has loving written about The Land of Enchantment; "The Spell of New Mexico" (1976), "The Great Taos Bank Robbery" (1977), and collaborated on several photo pieces "Rio Grande" (1975), "New Mexico Photography" (1975), and "Hillerman Country" (1991).
Evidence of his success with readers and critics is the host of honors and awards that he has received, both as a mystery writer receiving the Edgar and Grand Masters and also for his portrayal of the west, winning the American Indian’s Ambassador Award, Navajo Tribe’s Special Friend Award, the Public Service Award from the U.S. Department of the Interior.
"Seldom Disappointed: A Memoir" (2001) proved to be a real joy for his readers and won the Agatha Award in 2001 for best non-fiction. Now in his 70s, Hillerman looks back on life across the breath of the 20th century from the hardscrabble life on an Oklahoma farm as the family survived the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl years, to World War II, into the Technological Revolution. Not only do the lessons he learned resonate with his own generation, they also speak as clearly to those who are much younger. (My middle schoolers are Hillerman fans). Moreover, for those who love to connect the lines between author and their fiction, Hillerman expands a bit on how he created characters from people he has encountered.
He begins before his own beginning. Hillerman is from some tough stock. His mother, as a teenager, staked out her own homestead in the Oklahoma territory at the turn of the 20th century. She was the inspiration for the family mantra, "seldom disappointed." Growing up as a poor Okie, young Tony internalized the family philosophy: Don’t have unrealistic expectations, as you then can be pleasantly surprised and seldom disappointed.The other life lesson that seems to have driven Hillerman is some advice he heard from his brother Barney.
"Don’t look for a way to make money; find a way to make a living doing what you like to do anyway. Otherwise you’re just raising ransom to buy your life back."
That is some sage advice.
Hillerman notes that he has pursued his passions, beginning with his desire to be a soldier. Though Lucy Hillerman’s husband died young and her son Barney was killed in WWII, she encouraged her younger son to follow his dream and Tony became a Marine. He was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and the Purple Heart for his heroics in WWII.
After the war, he worked as a journalist and then editor for 15 years. In the late 1960s, he earned a master’s degree and began teaching journalism at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. It was during those 20 years that he began writing the mysteries that center on the characters Leaphorn and Chee. Following his brother’s advice, Hillerman has made a healthy living doing what he enjoys.
Years ago I was told that though Hillerman was not of a Navaho family, he went to a Indian school in Oklahoma and that is how he came to know so much about Navaho beliefs. Not true. In his memoir, Hillerman clarifies how he was drawn into the Navaho world.
It was just a fluke, "a mis-stroke of the pen," as he puts it, that a reassignment at the end of his tour in World War II led to his encounter with two Navaho Marines, with whom he experienced the "enemy way" ceremonial their family was holding. Thus began his long association with the Navaho people and immersion into their culture that he so eloquently has shared throughout his literary career.
Hillerman writes, "I will confess that I never start one of these books in which they (Leaphorn and Chee) appear without being motivated by a desire to give those who read them at least some insight into the culture of a people who deserve to be much better understood."Those who know Hillerman’s work recognize that ongoing theme. Hillerman is on the side of the little guy like the tribal police who have limited jurisdiction even on their own lands. Leaphorn and Chee are the smart, capable and truly ethical lawmen. They often butt heads with incompetent FBI agents from D.C., or are pitted against rich and powerful Eastern Establishment types that exploit native lands.
In "Seldom Disappointed," the die-hard westerner Hillerman’s prejudices and suspicions regarding those East of the Mississippi are obvious in his cynical account of World War II army intelligence that "rarely got it right," and "West Pointers" who were inept in the field. The memoir also gives fans an idea of how Hillerman incorporates his life experiences and values into building his characters. Leaphorn is based on an old sheriff from Texas he knew who was a decent, dedicated man. He introduced the edgier and more superstitious Jim Chee as a counterbalance to the "legendary Leaphorn," which is how the lieutenant is referred to in later books in the series. Chee, he writes, was based on the young pups that surrounded him in his university classes high energy, smart but a bit headstrong.
It is a credit to the author that over the course of 30-plus years, books in this series continue to be fresh, due in large part to the relevance of the plots. In the 80s, the bad guys came to the Four Corners region to steal native artifacts ("Thief of Time," 1988). Post-9/11, the bad guys are running drugs and worse through native lands ("Sinister Pig," 2002).
I found Hillerman this time around on CD, with "Sinister Pig" read really well by George Guidall who captures the cadences and tones of New Mexicans. If it has been a while since you read a Hillerman, his latest are "Skeleton Man" (2004) and "Shape Shifter" (2006).
For those who are intrigued and ready for a new smart mystery series, Hillerman’s books are easy to find. He’s a loyal guy. Still married to the first wife, still in Albuquerque, and still with the same publisher Harper Collins. And after all these years and many books, check any used book mart for titles at good prices on Hillerman titles.
Take some time for Hillerman. He’s good.
Joan Ruddiman, Ed. D., is a teacher and friend of the Allentown Public Library.