Posted on 02/17/2020 12:24:59 PM PST by Borges
Charles Portis, an El Dorado native best known for his 1968 novel True Grit, died on Monday at a Little Rock hospice facility. He was 86.
The cause was complications from Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, which was diagnosed in 2012, said his brother, Jonathan Portis.
Portis published five novels — Norwood (1966), True Grit (1968), The Dog of the South (1979), Masters of Atlantis (1985), and Gringos (1991) — and the non-fiction Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany (2012).
True Grit, the story of fictional 14-year-old Mattie Ross from Yell County, Ark., who recruits U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn to avenge the murder of her father, was made into a 1969 movie of the same name starring the legendary John Wayne and fellow Arkansas native Glen Campbell. A remake of the film starring Hailee Steinfeld and Jeff Bridges in 2010 was produced by Steven Spielberg and directed by Ethan and Joel Coen.
Portis, who was uncomfortable with the fame that resulted from his literary success, rarely granted interviews, balked at being photographed and lived quietly in an apartment in Little Rock’s Riverdale area.
“He had this great amount of success with ‘True Grit.’ I think it didn’t sit well with him,” said Jonathan Portis. “He didn’t like to attract attention. He was comfortable around his friends, but shy around strangers. He preferred to go as an unknown person because he was a people watcher. He would hear snatches of conversations or see people who had a particular look and he would take note of that. You’d see them in his books.”
No just the usual dumb reviews by idiots here who loathe the liberal arts. The one area of education that is imperative to understanding literature and it’s sister, film art.
“Portis, who was uncomfortable with the fame that resulted from his literary success...””
Dude, then don’t be a professional writer.
Weird. The first time I heard that term was this morning. I was researching "Benghazi burner", a makeshift camp stove the WWII Brits in North Africa devised out of four-gallon cans. Their version was a kind of porridge made from fried tinned corned beef and crushed hardtack biscuits.
Funny thing is that I had no idea that what my Grandma made for me and my Brother all those years ago was sofkee. Didn’t learn that until after I saw the True Grit remake, and did a Google/YouTube search.
But then again, I have a habit of trying recipes for different things I hear about in movies and TV shows.
Ian Fleming’s Vesper Martini?
Yup!
Woke up (Came to) many times face down naked on the floor of my kitchen thanks to the trusty Vesper Martini.
We’re old friends.
Save for later
Look up Glen Campbell TRUE GRIT song on youtube. I acknowledges he was not a good actor. Also on YouTube is the TRUE GRIT suite with pictures from the movie and the same shot years later in western Colorado.
I love John Wayne, but the Bridges version was so much more of a movie in every single way....maybe the only weak part was Damon....
RIP.
They’re all in Pulaski County.
Probably...but his “ear” was so good, he only had to hear a song once...or just an outline of what the producer or performer wanted to nail his performance.
Someone needs to make a movie (non-documentary) on the Wrecking Crew. Many (Campbell, drummer extraordinaire Hal Blaine, Tommy Tedesco, Dr. John, Leon Russell) have passed on, but there are more than few survivors (Carol Kaye, Michael Rubini, Spider Webb) who could offer up more material on those sessions and how they transpired.
Casting would be tough, but in the right hands (screen writer and director) it would be one heck of a film.
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