A Tribute to James Crumley
Many years ago while working at Jay’s Bookstall here in Oakland I had the great opportunity to meet James Crumley. Unfortunately, my snobbery regarding genre fiction got the better of me and rather than engage in any kind of conversation with the man I brusquely said hello and walked off to the other side of the shop where I was busily dusting off the poetry section. I have no real excuse for this. I was younger and stupider then, and held many unreasonable opinions regarding literature. Very high on my list of certainties was the belief that the stuff of genre could not possibly be considered capital L literature.
Since then I have learned better. And I find that I regret more and more that I did not spend a little time talking to James Crumley. I missed my only chance to speak to one of the true giants of American literature. Like I said, I was stupid.
James Crumley was born in Three Rivers, Texas on October 12, 1939. An excellent student and football player, he attended the Georgia Institute of Technology. He left school to serve in the army where he was stationed in the Philippines from 1958-1961. Returning to the States he earned his MFA in creative writing from the prestigious University of Iowa. There’s a wonderful uncollected essay, easily found online, in which Crumley fondly reminisces about his hard drinking times in the program and the impact that Richard Yates, an instructor there at the time, had upon the younger Crumley.
In 1969 Crumley published his first novel, One to Count Cadence, a roman a clef about his experiences in the service. Starting in 1975, James Crumley published a series of detective novels, alternately featuring the characters Milo Milodragovitch and C. W. Sughrue, that made his reputation. You can draw a straight line from Dashiell Hammett to Raymond Chandler to James Crumley; each man a master of the hardboiled style. His novel The Last Good Kiss is recognized not only as the gold standard of tough, detective fiction but as one of the truly great works in contemporary American literature.
Crumley kicked around the country lighting upon teaching gigs at among others the University of Montana at Missoula, Colorado State University, Reed College, and Pittsburgh’s own Carnegie-Mellon University.
James Crumley left us for the final country earlier this year on September 17, 2008. He had been in declining health in recent years.
Crumley is one of our favorite authors here at The New Yinzer. The news of his passing cast quite a gloom around the TNY offices. Herein we honor the memory of James Crumley by lifting a pint and giving voice to some favorite passages from his novels and some personal reminiscences as well. We’ve invited friends of Crumley and some regular TNY contributors to pay tribute to one of the masters, to share with you the experiences they have have had with the man and his work.
~ Kristofer Collins, Managing Editor