Author Cormac McCarthy introduced Knoxville to the world on the pages of his books
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Cormac McCarthy, who had close ties to Knoxville in his personal history and his books, has died at 89.
His death of natural causes was confirmed by his son, John McCarthy, and a statement from the author’s publisher, USA Today reported.
McCarthy’s books such as “The Road” and “No Country for Old Men” are iconic, but in Knoxville he’s known particularly for introducing the Tennessee city to the world.
“When I walk the streets of the Scruffy City, images from the novel ‘Suttree’ (by Cormac McCarthy) and the 1950s constantly arise in my mind,” Knoxville author William Walker told Knox News in an email.
“McCarthy captured a time that is now lost, and we will never see his like again,” Walker continued, naming the late author “the greatest Knoxville writer of all times.”
Though born in Rhode Island, McCarthy moved to Knoxville with his family when he was around 4 years old in 1937. His father worked as a general counsel for the Tennessee Valley Authority. They briefly lived in Sequoyah Hills and then moved to a house on Martin Hill Pike, which burned down in 2009.
McCarthy went to Knoxville Catholic High School. He briefly attended the University of Tennessee but dropped out to pursue his writing career.
More: Cormac McCarthy's rare interviews shine a light on one of America's most revered novelists
However, Knoxville remained an inspiration to the author. His first four novels were set in East Tennessee, and the main character in his fifth, “Blood Meridian,” is a teenager from Tennessee.
Released in 1979, "Suttree" is a semi-autobiographical novel set in Knoxville during the 1950s. Landmarks like Gay Street, Market Square and the Corner Lounge on Central Street are mentioned in the book.
Suttree Landing Park on the Tennessee River in downtown Knoxville is an homage to the book and its lead character. Suttree's High Gravity Tavern and Harrogate's Lounge are also references to the book.
In McCarthy's highly anticipated literary return in 2022, “The Passenger" prominently featured Knoxville, Clinton and Wartburg. The main character's father even works in Oak Ridge.
McCarthy also lived in rural Sevier County and Blount County in the 1960s and ‘70s, before moving to Texas in 1976. Renovating a barn himself, he lived in Louisville, Tennessee, with his wife at the time, Annie DeLisle.
Talking to Knox News in 1990, DeLisle recalled how, after getting married in England, the couple later returned to the U.S., to live in Blount County, first in Rockford (“in a little house for $50 a month, a little pig farm. Just outrageous”), then in Louisville during the years McCarthy was writing “Suttree.”
DeLisle left her own mark on Knoxville, establishing Annie’s – A Very Special Restaurant in the 1980s, a business credited with pioneering the revitalization of the Old City.
Cormac McCarthy books made into movies
McCarthy first achieved popular acclaim in 1992 with "All the Pretty Horses," a bestseller and winner of the National Book Award, USA Today reported. In 2000, it was adapted into a film starring Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz, directed by Billy Bob Thornton.
Directors Joel and Ethan Coen brought McCarthy even more popular acclaim with their 2007 film adaptation of his novel “No Country for Old Men,” starring Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin. The film won four Academy Awards, including best picture, and even drew the reclusive McCarthy to the Oscars ceremony. In 2013, McCarthy’s first original feature-length screenplay became the film “The Counselor,” directed by Ridley Scott and starring Michael Fassbender, Penélope Cruz and Cameron Diaz.
McCarthy is most widely known for his post-apocalyptic novel "The Road." Published in 2006, "The Road" is a bleak and haunting fable about a father and young son journeying through a ravaged landscape eradicated of civilization and most life on Earth. In March 2007, Oprah Winfrey selected the title for her book club; his subsequent televised interview on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" was the famously press-shy author’s first. Later that year, McCarthy was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction. A film adaptation was released in 2009, starring Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee.
USA Today and Knox News reporter Ryan Wilusz contributed to this article.
Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email [email protected]. Twitter @dturner1208.
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This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Cormac McCarthy dead: The author introduced Knoxville to the world
