by Eva Dameron
Daily Lobo
Tony Hillerman said the Southwest has every color but green, and green is the color of money.
The Southwest is where people come to escape greed, he said.
Hillerman kicked off the third annual Voices of the Southwest lecture series on June 7 at the SUB. The lecture series is made up of a string of Southwest writers talking about their work. Someone presents every Tuesday until July 12. The lectures will take place in the Anthropology building, room 163. The lectures are broadcast live and rebroadcast on KUNM.
About 750 people filled the seats during Hillerman's lecture.
Anthropology professor David Stuart started the series because he wanted to create a free event that focused on the Southwest. The lectures reach a lot of people beyond the room audience, he said.
This year the authors are all from Albuquerque in honor of the city's tricentennial, Stuart said.
"This series is broadcast all over the country and in Canada on public radio," Stuart said.
There is also a class, called Voices of the Southwest, which is primarily for upper-division undergrads and graduates.
Hillerman opened his talk with a story about how he thought Southwest voices were unique.
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"How are Southwest voices different than, say, Vermont voices?" he said.
In the 1950s, he was enjoying a view of New Mexico from the seat of a train. He said next to him were two young men from Rhode Island, which he gathered from eavesdropping.
"They were talking about insurance problems and legislature," he said.
"All of a sudden we were over the top, and one of the guys stopped in the middle of a sentence," he said. "We were seeing an infinity of beauty."
He said there was a great sky and a view of Mount Taylor.
There was an empty expanse of sunshine and all of his troubles faded away. His spirits began to lift, he said.
"And beside me, one of the guys said 'My God, why would anybody want to live here?' And I thought, why would anybody sane not want to live here?"
Hillerman's speech was peppered throughout with tips for young writers.
One tip he gave was for a writer to imagine himself or herself as a bag lady who steals a shopping cart and goes down the alley collecting things.
"That's what you're doing as a writer," he said. "Collecting things."
He also said if you have to use a modifier, you probably have the wrong verb.
"Use trudged, not walked slowly," he said.
Stuart said Hillerman is one of the most widely read mystery authors in the world, with nearly 30 best-selling books. PBS has also made movies from several of his books.
Hillerman was given a medal from the Navajo Nation honoring his characterizations of their culture.
"I respect his treatment of all cultures," said Sheila Robinson, a lecture attendee. "The way he describes the landscape is phenomenal. The first book I ever read of his opens with a beautiful description of the Sandias and why they are called the Watermelon Mountains."
Hillerman closed with one last tip for writers.
"Leave out the stuff the reader skips," he said.
Authors speaking include Jim Belshaw and Beth Corbin-Hsi, Pari Noskin Taichert, Judith Van Gieson, Sherry Robinson, Demetria Martinez, Max Evans and David Stuart.
