Subject: Author dies of apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound at Albuquerque airport
[This is such horrible news ......] Author dies of apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound at Albuquerque airport Sat Jul 27, 6:45 AM ET http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020727/ap_wo_en_po/us_obit_owens_2 By RICHARD BENKE, Associated Press Writer ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - Louis Owens, a prize-winning novelist and leading scholar on American Indian fiction, has died of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, hospital officials said. He was 53. Owens, author of "The Bone Game," "Dark River" and other novels, suffered a gunshot wound to the chest at the Albuquerque airport early Wednesday and was brought to the University of New Mexico Hospital, airport spokeswoman Maggie Santiago said. He died T hursday afternoon, hospital spokesman Sam Giammo said. In addition to writing novels, Owens was a scholar of American Indian literature and the work of novelist John Steinbeck. He was on the faculty at the University of California-Davis. "I would list him as the leading scholar on Native American fiction in the country," said Jack Hicks, a colleague. "He was a remarkably talented writer." Owens had won a Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year award in 1998 for "Mixedblood Messages: Literature, Film, Family, Place." One of his best-regarded works was "Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel." He had won a National Endowment fo r the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in 1989. "He did that thing which is not usual for creative writers, being known equally as a scholar and a creative writer," said Pat Smith, an English professor at the University of New Mexico, where Owens formerly taught. Owens was of Choctaw and Cherokee ancestry. His other novels were "The Sharpest Sight," "Wolfsong" and "Nightland." Santiago, the airport spokeswoman, said a passenger heard a gunshot Wednesday, saw Owens slumped over and called police. A pistol was found with him. "All the physical evidence indicated it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest," she said. A note found with him asked that his wife be notified, she added. Owens, born in 1948 in Lompoc, California, also had worked as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California and his Ph.D. from UC Davis. In addition to his wife, Owens is survived by two daughters. Subject: Louis Owens was Indian novelist, scholar Louis Owens was Indian novelist, scholar STAFF AND WIRE http://www.abqtrib.com/archives/news02/072702_news_owens.shtml Louis Owens, a former University of New Mexico professor of English who won international respect and literary prizes for his works of fiction and scholarship, died in Albuquerque of a gunshot wound that appeared to have been self-inflicted, airport offic ials said. Owens, who wrote about American Indian life in his fiction and about American Indian literature and authors in his scholarly works, apparently shot himself in the parking garage of the Albuquerque International Sunport early Thursday morning. He was prono unced dead at University of New Mexico Hospital at 12:37 p.m. Thursday, hospital spokesman Sam Giammo said. Owens, 53, was of Choctaw, Cherokee and Irish ancestry. His fiction included "The Bone Game," "Dark River," "The Sharpest Sight," "Wolfsong" and "Nightland." He was a frontline voice on American Indian literature and an authority on the work of John Stein beck. He had won a Wordcraft Circle Writer of the Year award in 1998 for "Mixedblood Messages: Literature, Film, Family, Place." One of his best-regarded works was "Other Destinies: Understanding the American Indian Novel." He had won a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship in 1989. Owens was on the faculty of UNM until two years ago and lived in the Manzano Mountains with his family. In 2000 he moved to the University of California Davis as a professor. He also had taught at UC Santa Cruz. "As somebody of that generation, late 40s early 50s, he was just galvanizing both in terms of his fiction and his criticism," said UNM English professor Pat Smith, a Micmac Indian. "He did that thing which is not usual for creative writers, being known eq ually as a scholar and a creative writer." She said he was especially helpful to young writers. "All I can tell you is his students loved him," said Stephen Brandon, a new assistant professor at UNM who also is of Cherokee descent. Owens was on the faculty at the University of California-Davis. English professor Jack Hicks, one of his colleagues there and one of his former teachers, described Owens as "a person of real character, quiet, very dependable and very generous with his tim e with students and faculty." "I would list him as the leading scholar on Native American fiction in the country," Hicks said Friday night. "He was a remarkably talented writer." John Purdy, an English Professor at Western Washington University in Bellingham, had organized a conference in Bellingham where Owens was to have spoken Thursday. "He was a great guy with a good heart. He had a lot of good friends and colleagues all over the world," Purdy said. The conference, a National Endowment for the Humanities summer seminar, was titled "Beginnings for first novels of Native America." Purdy said Owens' wife, Polly, told him there had been a "tragic accident." The state Office of the Medical Investigator said only that he died Thursday. Giammo said Owens was brought into the hospital from the airport suffering from a gunshot wound. Airport spokeswoman Maggie Santiago said he was taken to the hospital shortly after 5 a.m. Wednesday. A passenger had heard a gunshot, saw Owens slumped over and called police, Santiago said. A pistol was found with him. "All the physical evidence indicated it was a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the chest" and that nobody else was involved, she said. A note found with him asked that his wife be notified, she added. Owens, born in 1948 in Lompoc, Calif., also had worked as a firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of California and his doctorate from UC Davis. Owens also wrote "American Indian Novelists, an Annotated Critical Bibliography," "The Grapes of Wrath: Trouble in the Promised Land," "John Steinbeck's Re-Vision of America." Owens is survived by his wife, Polly, and daughters Elizabeth and Alexandra. -- Andr� P. Cramblit, Operations Director NCIDC www.ncidc.org COMMUNICATION IS THE KEY TO THE FUTURE OF AMERICAN INDIANS/NATIVE AMERICANS/ALASKAN NATIVES & HAWAIIAN ISLANDERS. 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