Cormac McCarthy
Biography
Cormac McCarthy
Born in Rhode Island in 1933, Cormac McCarthy was originally named Charles (after his father), but changed his name to Cormac after the Irish King. Raised Roman Catholic, he attended the University of Tennessee in 1951 where he concentrated in Liberal Arts. He left school in 1953 to join the Air Force, returned in 1957, and left again in 1960 without having earned a degree. During this time he married Lee Holleman, a fellow student, and they had a son, Cullen.
In 1965 he published his first novel, THE ORCHARD KEEPER (his editor at Random House was Faulkner's long time editor, Albert Erskine). In 1966 he married Anne DeLisle, a young English singer/dancer. BLOOD MERIDIAN was published in 1985, and while it received little critical attention it is now widely regarded as McCarthy's finest work. The first volume of the Border Trilogy, ALL THE PRETTY HORSES, was published in 1992, followed by THE CROSSING and CITIES OF THE PLAIN.
Cormac McCarthy