Escape Velocity

Charles Portis lives in Arkansas, where he was born (1933) and educated. Portis served as a reporter for the New York Herald-Tribune and was also its London bureau chief. His first novel, Norwood, was published in 1966. His other novels are True Grit, The Dog of the South, Masters of Atlantis, and Gringos.

True Grit has been made into a movie two times, once in 1969 with John Wayne (who won his only academy award by playing the main character of Rooster Cogburn), and a second time in 2010 with Jeff Bridges as the main character. Mr. Bridges was nominated for the Rooster Cogburn role, but did not win.

Charles Portis died on February 17, 2020 in Little Rock, Arkansas at age 86. He had been under hospice care for two years. 030