On May 27, 1925 Tony Hillerman, a great American author, was born in Sacred, OK.
Hillerman was raised in Sacred, OK where he attended the St. Mary’s Academy from the year 1930-1938. Between 1942 and 1943 he graduated from Konawa High School and became a part of the U.S Army. He was involved in World War II and after the war finished Hillerman was awarded the silver star, bronze star with oak leaf cluster and the purple heart award. Hillerman is an alumni of the University of Oklahoma where he received a B.A degree in 1948. Hillerman worked as a journalist for 14 years (1948-1962) and by 1963 he began his studies at the University of New Mexico. He graduated with a M.A degree in English and taught at the university from 1966-1987.
Tony Hillerman wrote detective, mystery novels, and has won quite a few awards. The novel known as The Blessing Way (released in 1970) was his first, and the beginning of the Leaphorn and Chee series. In 1974 Hillerman won his first Edgar award for the novel Dance Hall of The Dead (2nd in the series) for best novel, by the Mystery Writers of America. In 1991 he won the MWA’s Grand Master Award.
For the majority of his adult life Hillerman lived in Albuquerque with his wife Marie and their six children. At the age of 83 on October 26 2008 Tony Hillerman passed away.
