# R.I.P. Charles Portis

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-charles-portis/848103>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Tags:** celebrity-death\
**Created:** [February 18, 2020, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-charles-portis/848103 "2020-02-18T03:42:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-charles-portis/848103/1 "2020-02-18T03:42:25Z")

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Author of ‘True Grit’ and ‘Rooster Cogburn’ died today.  
He lived in South Arkansas. Eldorado,Ark.  
Close to where I live.

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**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-charles-portis/848103/2 "2020-02-18T13:41:32Z")

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That was a darn good book he wrote. I’ve read it many times.

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**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-charles-portis/848103/3 "2020-02-18T13:58:11Z")

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Interesting. Liked the book and both movies, but for some reason I thought he was already dead.

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**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\
**Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/r-i-p-charles-portis/848103/4 "2020-02-18T15:26:57Z")

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I have read True Grit a couple times and also read and enjoyed Norwood and Gringos. I always look to see if I can find his other books when I hit the used book store, but haven’t had any luck. I like his writing style.

When I read the paper today, they described his books as “shaggy dog stories”. According to Wikipedia:

“In its original sense, a shaggy dog story or yarn is an extremely long-winded anecdote characterized by extensive narration of typically irrelevant incidents and terminated by an anticlimax.”

Yeah, I guess that describes his stories.

Anyway, RIP. I’ll keep looking for your other books Mr. Portis.