An Open Letter (an Ode) to Cormac McCarthy

Sadly, the idea of writing an open letter to a man recently passed away, on June 13^th, 2023, at 89 years old, is a new one for me. The consequence is that he will never get to read this letter, and it’s worse for such a fan of Cormac McCarthy’s work. The way I was introduced to him was through Joel and Ethan Cohen’s 2009 adaptation of No Country for Old Men. What made this film and book unique is that on one level it’s a metaphysical crime thriller but also McCarthy’s take on the 80’s sci-fi genre (think alien vs. predator and you have both Llewyn Moss/Alien and Anton Chigurh/Predator) and you have two opposing forces meeting together to come to play with silenced shotguns and tec-9’s. With his science fiction take on Mad Max, the Road, was an 2006 Oprah Winfrey book of the year, to which he granted his first ever interview. But also, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 2007, a prestigious literary award.

            What makes Cormac’s passing is that I will never get to meet him personally. What makes Cormac so interesting as a writer is that he didn’t have to go to school in order to write the way he did. To be published and recognized by Faulkner’s editor, molding him into the image of the southern writer, even if he wasn’t the south’s native son. What Cormac did is that he lived his literary life on his own terms.

            From refusing to speak to journalists, not on any personal malevolence, living poor to meager life, is what makes Cormac’s writing fascinating, from his neo-biblical thinking in Blood Meridian, to his short hand prose that makes any Hemingway reader blanche at his visceral descriptions.

            What I do wish I could say to him is, and as I say as every big name author has, he lived his life the way he wanted. For the years he was unknown, doesn’t discount the respect he earned in the industry, and now one of the most celebrated writers of Southern Gothic fiction. As I have read most of his work, the unlikely question is that who will take his place. A He Man of literary fiction, but also an elusive figure, who saw the writing first and foremost. Many authors, other than JD Salinger, took this maxim to the extreme.

            And all I can say is, to Cormac McCarthy, thank you for all you have done. As I said, “at least you got to live your dreams, and I wish I could fill your parking space.”

(Looking for Cormac is a 33 and 1/2 student film where two students are trying to find Cormac McCarthy, doing on the ground interviews, and also never coming close to finding the famous cult author)