In Memoriam: Tony Hillerman

Tony Hillerman died this past weekend. I feel as if I have lost a friend. His stories celebrated the Navajo culture and the beauty of the Southwest. He wrote a series of mysteries featuring Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee. These characters grew with each novel. He also wrote a haunting stand-alone: Finding Moon.
I wanted to share this tribute to Hillerman from Craig Johnson, author of Another Man's Moccasins and Kindness Goes Unpunished because I think that it is most apt: "Perhaps the best words to describe his legacy are those of his protagonist Jim Chee, 'Everything is connected. The wing of the corn beetle effects the direction of the wind, the way the sand drifts, the way the light reflects into the eye of man beholding his reality. All is part of totality, and in this totality man finds his horzo, his way of walking in harmony, with beauty all around him.'"