The Costco Connection - October 2013

Passing

the torch

By J. Rentilly

FAMILY DINNERS in the Tony Hillerman household enjoyed frequent visits from fictional creations: Navajo crime-solvers Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee, featured in The Blessing Way and 17 more of the late best-selling author’s New Mexico–set mystery novels. This left an indelible impression on the writer’s eldest child, Anne.

“We’d be at dinner when I was growing
up and, inevitably, Dad would share with us
about the novel he was working on,” recalls
Anne Hillerman. “It was like Leaphorn and
Chee were at dinner with us every night,
enjoying with us the puzzles of life. They were
kind of like my uncles.”
When Tony Hillerman passed away in

2008 after a long illness, he left in his wake not
only a grieving family but a vast array of ques-
tions about the future of his characters, loved
by millions of readers around the world.

“After I processed the sadness of losing
my father, I began to think, ‘Gee, I’m going
to miss these stories too,’” says Hillerman.
“What’s going to happen to these characters?
What will they do next? They can’t just stop
existing, can they? All of those things were
rattling around in my brain, and I figured for
Dad’s readers too.”
Hillerman had already carved
out a formidable career of her own
as a writer, working as a reporter
and editor for a variety of local and
national news outlets and penning
eight nonfiction books, including
the acclaimed Tony Hillerman’s
Landscape: On the Road with Chee
and Leaphorn. “I always felt very
connected to my father as a writer.
I was so in awe of him,” she says.

“I remember sneaking
out of bed at night and
watching him write in
his home office when
I was supposed to be
sleeping, and he was
always so supportive of my writing.”
While promoting Landscape, a collabora-
tion with her husband, the noted photogra-
pher Don Strel, Hillerman was approached by
Santa Fe tour company Road Scholar about
creating a Leaphorn-and-Chee-inspired tour

arts & entertainment

Tablet or smartphone? Scan or click here to watch Anne Hillerman talk about her decision to continue her father’s stories. (See page 5 for scanning details.)

Anne Hillerman
continues her
father’s legacy Passing

the torch

The Costco Connection

Anne Hillerman’s Spider Woman’s Daughter is available in most Costco warehouses.

of the Southwest. To prep for the gig, which is ongoing, she reread all of her father’s books and visited all of the stunning locales featured, quite essentially, in those stories. “That really reacquainted me with the characters and the plots and made it all come alive for me again,” says Hillerman, now 63. “And I began to wonder if maybe I could answer some of my own questions about what comes next for Leaphorn and Chee.”

Hillerman felt she first needed permission to pursue such a creative endeavor, and spoke with her mother, Hillerman was especially excited to move Manuelito to center stage, something she had discussed with her father in the years before his passing. “Toward the end of Dad’s career,

Bernie started really coming to life in his
books, but was still kind of a damsel in dis-
tress,” she says. “I said to him,
‘Dad, why don’t you write a book
where Bernie actually gets to
solve the crime?’ He really
warmed to that idea, and that’s
what I was able to do.”
Hillerman is profoundly
aware of her obligation not
only to her father’s characters, but
also to his readership. “It was
daunting, writing this book,
for sure,” she laughs.
“Some days I really felt
like Dad was looking
over my shoulder, and
some days I thought I
really should have been
a waitress. I’m just hoping fans of my father’s
books will find enough to love in my version
of these characters and that I’ll give them
some pleasure.” C