Tony Hillerman
American novelist Tony Hillerman died recently at age 83. Here is an excerpt from the story in Time:
Individual novels by Tony Hillerman, collections of his fiction, and works about him and his fiction are all classed in 813.54 American fiction—1945–1999 (built with 81, base number for American literature in English as specified at 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, plus T3A—3 Fiction, from Table 3A Subdivisions for Works by or about Individual Authors, plus 54 1945–1999 from literary period table under 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, as instructed at T3A—31–39 Specific periods). In WebDewey, the LCSH authority headings “Chee, Jim (Fictitious character)” and “Leaphorn, Joe, Lt. (Fictitious character)” are both mapped to 813.54 American fiction—1945–1999. Examples of works by or about Hillerman classed in 813.54 are The Blessing Way, Dance Hall of the Dead, and Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts, and Havens in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries.
Works about American mystery fiction by multiple authors are classed in 813.087209 Mystery fiction—American literature in English—history and criticism (built with 81, base number for American literature in English as specified at 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, plus T3B—30872 Detective, mystery, suspense, spy, Gothic fiction, from Table 3B Subdivisions for Works by or about More than One Author, plus 09 History, description, critical appraisal from the add table under T3B—102–107 Specific kinds of poetry, following the footnote instruction at T3B—30872). Notation 09 can be added to 813.0872 for works about mystery fiction because T3B—30872 Detective, mystery, suspense, spy, Gothic fiction has the note: “Subdivisions are added for a combination of two or more topics in heading, for detective fiction alone, for mystery fiction alone, for suspense fiction alone, for spy fiction alone.” By the rule of zero, notation for literary genre at T3B—301–308 Fiction of specific scope and kinds has preference over notation for literary themes, which can be expressed by following the add instructions at T3B—3001–3009 Standard subdivisions; collections; history, description, critical appraisal. Here is the rule of zero as given in the “Dewey Decimal Classification Glossary”: “The rule instructing that subdivisions beginning with zero should be avoided if there is a choice between the 0 subdivision and subdivisions beginning with 1–9 in the same position in the notation. Similarly, subdivisions beginning with 00 should be avoided when there is a choice between 00 and 0.” Notation for literary genre at T3B—301–308 Fiction of specific scope and kinds has preference over T3B—31–39 Fiction of specific periods because the following note at T3B—31–39 overrides the rule of zero: “Class specific scope and kinds from specific periods in T3B—301–308.” Literary themes and literary periods can be expressed at the end of the built number that first expresses literary genre.
Examples of works about multiple American mystery writers, including Tony Hillerman, are American Mystery and Detective Writers and Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers, both classed in 813.08720905 Mystery fiction—American literature in English—history and criticism—20th century (with 813.087209 built as described above, plus 0 from T3C—01–09 Specific periods, as instructed at 09 in the add table under T3B—102–107 Specific kinds of poetry, plus 5 1900-1999 from period table under 810.1-818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, as instructed at T3C—01–09).
His numerous best-selling mystery novels about two Navajo policemen, Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, portrayed the American Indians of the Southwest with accuracy, color and affection. Hillerman, who died Oct. 26 at 83, was the first popular author to consistently write about the Navajo as fully rounded characters. Over 18 novels, starting with 1970's The Blessing Way, he portrayed the Navajo with good traits and bad, as heroic and villainous, just as novelists had written about people of other races and cultures. He understood that Navajo are not the primitives depicted in old western movies, and he wanted his readers to recognize that they were as complex and sophisticated as the people of any other heritage.
Tony Hillerman won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the Best Novel of the year (Dance Hall of the Dead) in 1974, and in 1991 he received the highest award the organization can bestow: the title Grand Master for lifetime achievement. Yet the honor that brought him greatest pleasure was given to him by the Navajo Tribal Council when they named him a Special Friend of the Dineh (Navajo).
Tony Hillerman's WorldCat Identities page gives an overview of his work, his publication timeline, brief descriptions of his works, notes about which works are most widely held in libraries, and links to bibliographic records in WorldCat. Tony Hillerman won the Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the Best Novel of the year (Dance Hall of the Dead) in 1974, and in 1991 he received the highest award the organization can bestow: the title Grand Master for lifetime achievement. Yet the honor that brought him greatest pleasure was given to him by the Navajo Tribal Council when they named him a Special Friend of the Dineh (Navajo).
Individual novels by Tony Hillerman, collections of his fiction, and works about him and his fiction are all classed in 813.54 American fiction—1945–1999 (built with 81, base number for American literature in English as specified at 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, plus T3A—3 Fiction, from Table 3A Subdivisions for Works by or about Individual Authors, plus 54 1945–1999 from literary period table under 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, as instructed at T3A—31–39 Specific periods). In WebDewey, the LCSH authority headings “Chee, Jim (Fictitious character)” and “Leaphorn, Joe, Lt. (Fictitious character)” are both mapped to 813.54 American fiction—1945–1999. Examples of works by or about Hillerman classed in 813.54 are The Blessing Way, Dance Hall of the Dead, and Tony Hillerman's Navajoland: Hideouts, Haunts, and Havens in the Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee Mysteries.
Works about American mystery fiction by multiple authors are classed in 813.087209 Mystery fiction—American literature in English—history and criticism (built with 81, base number for American literature in English as specified at 810.1–818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, plus T3B—30872 Detective, mystery, suspense, spy, Gothic fiction, from Table 3B Subdivisions for Works by or about More than One Author, plus 09 History, description, critical appraisal from the add table under T3B—102–107 Specific kinds of poetry, following the footnote instruction at T3B—30872). Notation 09 can be added to 813.0872 for works about mystery fiction because T3B—30872 Detective, mystery, suspense, spy, Gothic fiction has the note: “Subdivisions are added for a combination of two or more topics in heading, for detective fiction alone, for mystery fiction alone, for suspense fiction alone, for spy fiction alone.” By the rule of zero, notation for literary genre at T3B—301–308 Fiction of specific scope and kinds has preference over notation for literary themes, which can be expressed by following the add instructions at T3B—3001–3009 Standard subdivisions; collections; history, description, critical appraisal. Here is the rule of zero as given in the “Dewey Decimal Classification Glossary”: “The rule instructing that subdivisions beginning with zero should be avoided if there is a choice between the 0 subdivision and subdivisions beginning with 1–9 in the same position in the notation. Similarly, subdivisions beginning with 00 should be avoided when there is a choice between 00 and 0.” Notation for literary genre at T3B—301–308 Fiction of specific scope and kinds has preference over T3B—31–39 Fiction of specific periods because the following note at T3B—31–39 overrides the rule of zero: “Class specific scope and kinds from specific periods in T3B—301–308.” Literary themes and literary periods can be expressed at the end of the built number that first expresses literary genre.
Examples of works about multiple American mystery writers, including Tony Hillerman, are American Mystery and Detective Writers and Behind the Mystery: Top Mystery Writers, both classed in 813.08720905 Mystery fiction—American literature in English—history and criticism—20th century (with 813.087209 built as described above, plus 0 from T3C—01–09 Specific periods, as instructed at 09 in the add table under T3B—102–107 Specific kinds of poetry, plus 5 1900-1999 from period table under 810.1-818 Subdivisions of American literature in English, as instructed at T3C—01–09).
Several years ago, I sent Mr. Hillerman one of my three fan letters. I sent one to Carol Burnett about 20 years ago, one to Charlton Heston, and one to Tony Hillerman. All three of them sent me personal answers. To me, that was the sign of a class act for each of them. I hope there will be another author out there that learns to write mysteries that teach, fascinate, and are safe to read to our grandchildren. He wrote whole stories without swearing, and his characters stayed dressed! Even in this day and age. He was a great man, and my heart goes out to his family.
Posted by: Ingrid | November 04, 2008 at 04:25 PM
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