Lonesome Dove
Anniversary Celebration | San Antonio – October 2-3, 2009
The Novel
The powerful story of two aging Texas Rangers on their epic cattle drive from the Rio Grande 2,500 miles up the trail to Montana captured the public imagination back in the 1980s and never let it go.
Larry McMurtry’s Lonesome Dove originated as a film scenario called “The Streets of Laredo,” which was intended as a vehicle for John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and James Stewart. The project failed to materialize, and McMurtry eventually chose to expand the idea into a sprawling 843-page novel eulogizing the Texas past, both factual and mythical, as represented by the cowboy. The book was published in June 1985, and went on to spend 20 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list, winning the Pulitzer Prize for fiction that year. More than two decades after its publication, it still sells tens of thousands of copies annually.
The Miniseries
Turning the novel into film, Bill Wittliff, who had scripted the westerns Barbarosa (1982) and Red Headed Stranger (1986), was signed to write the teleplay and serve as executive producer along with Suzanne De Passe. The Lonesome Dove miniseries, directed by Simon Wincer and starring Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, aired on CBS in 1989. Twenty-six million households watched the premier episode and countless millions more have ridden with Gus and Call in re-runs on TV, video, and DVD.
Considered by many as the best Western film ever made, Lonesome Dove was nominated for 18 Emmy Awards and won seven. It also won Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Miniseries and Best Actor; a Peabody Award; the D. W. Griffith Award for Best Television Series; the National Association of Television Critics Awards for Program of the Year and Outstanding Achievement in Drama; and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Teleplay (Bill Wittliff).
The Archive
A year before Wittliff wrote the Lonesome Dove teleplay, he and his wife Sally founded The Southwestern Writers Collection at Texas State University-San Marcos, an archive to preserve works of and about the region’s writers, musicians, and filmmakers. Wittliff donated all his Lonesome Dove materials from the film and convinced many of the principals to donate their artifacts as well. The result is a near-complete production record, from the first screenplay drafts to props, costumes, and every printed take—almost 80 hours of film “dailies”. Many of the items of are featured in a permanent exhibit at Texas State, attracting thousands of visitors each year.
The Lonesome Dove archive also contains over 200 photographs Wittliff shot during filming. A renowned fine-art photographer, he took numerous images, not as production stills, but with an artist’s eye. Bill’s photographs provide a stunning visual summary of the entire miniseries, and their sales provided much-needed acquisition funds in the early days of The Southwestern & Mexican Photography Collection, a growing exhibit space and photography archive formed in 1996 as a counterpart of the Southwestern Writers Collection. These two repositories are united under the name, The Wittliff Collections.
Anniversary Celebration
The mission of this event is to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Lonesome Dove miniseries, Larry McMurtry’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, and the film production archives housed at The Wittliff Collections at Texas State University-San Marcos.
The anniversary is an opportunity to raise awareness of the importance of preserving the cultural heritage of the Southwest, and to showcase The Wittliff Collections’ mission as an archival, educational, and creative center charged with furthering the legacy of the region’s literary and photographic arts. The anniversary is also an opportunity to raise significant private dollars to support the acquisition, preservation, and instructional activities essential to The Wittliff Collections’ mission, and to address their ability to remain competitive in increasingly aggressive markets.
A creative plan is evolving to celebrate in San Antonio on October 2-3, 2009. Tentative events include a panel discussion featuring principal actors from the cast at Laurie Auditorium on the Trinity University campus and a gala evening and silent auction at The Witte Museum. Robert Duvall, Tommy Lee Jones, and Danny Glover have agreed to attend—pending filming schedules—as has Larry McMurtry. All principal cast members will be invited to participate.
A preliminary fundraising goal of $1.25 million has been set. Community and philanthropic leaders across Texas are being asked to serve on a steering committee to plan the celebration and secure sponsors. Sponsorship opportunities and related materials are being developed and will be available shortly.
For everyone who loves the novel and the miniseries, the 20th anniversary celebration of Lonesome Dove provides yet another powerful way of experiencing this mythical, yet wholly real, world. With devoted fans all across the globe, the premier event will attract thousands of people who have been, and continue to be, touched by this remarkable story of love, loyalty, old friendships, and the spirit of the American frontier.
For more information about the event, please email: