Cormac McCarthy, Pulitzer Prize winner behind ‘No Country for Old Men,’ dies
(NEXSTAR) – Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author behind “No Country for Old Men” and “All the Pretty Horses,” has died, according to his publisher. He was 89.
McCarthy died of natural causes at his Santa Fe, New Mexico, home, Knopf wrote on Twitter on Tuesday.
McCarthy received a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 in fiction for “The Road,” which follows a father and son walking “through burned America” alone as they try to survive a journey to the coast.
In a 2009 interview with The Wall Street Journal, McCarthy said he signed 250 copies of “The Road,” giving them all to his younger son John to sell when he turned 18 “and go to Las Vegas or whatever.” He once called the novel “a love story to his son.”
The Providence, Rhode Island native was born in 1933 as one of six children in his family. His family later relocated to Knoxville, Tennessee, USA Today reports. McCarthy would briefly attend the University of Tennessee before dropping out to join the Air Force.
McCarthy’s first novel, “The Orchard Keeper,” was published in 1965.
Four of his titles, “All the Pretty Horses,” “No Country for Old Men,” “Child of God,” and “The Road” were adapted for film. McCarthy’s screenplay “The Counselor” was also adapted, and his play “The Sunset Limited” became an HBO telefilm, The Hollywood Reporter notes.
In addition to his Pulitzer Prize, McCarthy received the National Book Award, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the PEN/Saul Bellow Award for lifetime achievement in American fiction.
His most recent works include “The Passenger” and “Stella Maris,” both of which were published late last year.
Despite his success, McCarthy was well known for not promoting his works. Speaking with Oprah Winfrey for his only on-camera interview of his career, McCarthy said he believed promotion wasn’t “good for your head.”
“If you spend a lot of time thinking about how to write a book, you shouldn’t be talking about it, you should probably be doing it,” he explained. “That’s my feeling.”