When I learned that Larry McMurtry, the author of Lonesome Dove, died on March 25 of this year at the age of 84, it brought me back to 1957 when we were members of the same philosophy class at what is now the University of North Texas.

I believe it was in 2006, nearly 50 years after our shared class, that my wife, Jo Ann, and I visited with McMurtry in his bookstore in Archer City. I mentioned our class together, and he immediately added, "Yeah. That was in Dr. Linden's class!" I brought one of his books with me and asked that he add his autograph to it. He said no, explaining his refusal by pointing out that he no longer gave autographs because after signing autographs thousands of times, his autograph had degenerated to little more than a scribble. I tried to convince him to make an exception for me. He hesitated and then took the book and made his mark, closed the book and put it back in my hand.

I thanked him graciously, and we made our exit. When we got back to our car, I inspected my prize: The first of its three parts appeared to be rustic, shaky representations of a capital "L" and a capital "M" followed by a short gently curved line.

Charles F. Liddell ('57)
Burleson