BL
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Intro
American novelist and educator
A.K.A.
Billie Dean Letts, Gipson
Gender:
Female
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Birth:
30 May 1938(Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, USA)
Death:
2 August 2014(Tulsa, Tulsa County, Oklahoma, USA)
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The details
Biography
Introduction
Billie Dean Letts (née Gipson; May 30, 1938 – August 2, 2014) was an American novelist and educator. She was a professor at Southeastern Oklahoma State University.
Biography
Letts was born as Billie Dean Gipson in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the daughter of Virginia M. (née Barnes), a secretary, and William C. Gipson.
She married Dennis Letts, a professor and actor, in 1958. The couple had three children: Dana, Tracy (a playwright), and Shawn (a jazz musician/composer). Dennis Letts served as editor for his wife's novels. He died of lung cancer in Tulsa on February 22, 2008, aged 73.
Letts died in a Tulsa hospital from pneumonia on August 2, 2014, aged 76. She had recently been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia.
Novels
- Where the Heart Is (1995)
- The Honk and Holler Opening Soon (1998)
- Shoot the Moon (2004)
- Made in the U.S.A. (2008)
Awards and honors
- 1994 Walker Percy Award
- 1996 Oklahoma Book Award
- 1998 Oprah's Book Club – Best Novel nominee – Where the Heart Is