Larry Jeff McMurtry (June 3, 1936 – March 25, 2021) was an American novelist, essayist, bookseller and screenwriter whose work was predominantly set in either the Old West or contemporary Texas. His novels included Horseman, Pass By (1962), The Last Picture Show (1966), and Terms of Endearment (1975), which were adapted into films. Films adapted from McMurtry's works earned 34 Oscar nominations (13 wins).
His 1985 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Lonesome Dove was adapted into a television miniseries that earned 18 Emmy Award nominations (seven wins). The subsequent three novels in his Lonesome Dove series were adapted as three more miniseries, earning eight more Emmy nominations. McMurtry and cowriter Diana Ossana adapted the screenplay for Brokeback Mountain (2005), which earned eight Academy Award nominations with three wins, including McMurtry and Ossana for Best Adapted Screenplay. In 2014, McMurtry received the National Humanities Medal.
McMurtry was born in Archer City, Texas, 25 miles from Wichita Falls, the son of Hazel Ruth (née McIver) and William Jefferson McMurtry. He grew up on his parents' ranch outside Archer City. The city was the model for the town of Thalia which is a setting for much of his fiction. He earned a BA from the University of North Texas in 1958 and an MA from Rice University in 1960.

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