El Paso acquaintances, author remember acclaimed novelist Cormac McCarthy after his death

Acquaintances and a respected El Paso author are saying the passing of Cormac McCarthy is like getting to the last page of a great book: It's sad to know there will be no other like it.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Road" and "No Country for Old Men," died Tuesday. He was 89. His death by natural causes was confirmed by his son, John McCarthy, according to a statement from his publisher.

More: Cormac McCarthy, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of 'The Road,' dies at 89

Bill Clark, owner of the Literarity Book Shop on the West Side, is grateful he can say he knew McCarthy. Clark, who also is from Tennessee, where McCarthy lived as a youth, first met him while looking for books at a Barnes & Noble on the West Side.

"Cormac was back in El Paso and stopped by for a visit with our mutual friend, Bobby Perel, one of Cormac's best friends and one of Literarity's most loyal supporters before Bobby's death last year," Clark posted on the bookstore's Facebook page.

"Cormac and Bobby were two of the most interesting people I've ever known ‒ both bigger than life in my book," Clark said. "Their relationship, which stayed strong long after Cormac moved to Santa Fe, was a testament to true friendship. The passing of both Bobby and Cormac in less than a year feels much like reaching the end of a book you've loved reading, but being heartbroken that the book had to end and knowing that you'll never find another book that matches up.

"There will never be another Cormac McCarthy or Bobby Perel. They were each one of a kind; both great storytellers in their own way. I will be forever grateful for the opportunity to have known them. They inspired me," Clark said.

Sergio Troncoso, author of "Nobody's Pilgrims" and "A Peculiar Kind of Immigrant's Son," said he discovered McCarthy as a young writer and enjoyed his early work: "The Orchard Keeper," "Suttree" and "Blood Meridian."

"He was a master stylist and understood that shedding blood and fighting life and death struggles were the stuff of great literature," Troncoso said. "Later in life, I kept reading the more popular border trilogy, 'All The Pretty Horses,' 'The Crossing' and 'Cities of the Plain,' and although I liked these books about the Southwest, they didn't strike me as powerfully as 'The Road' and 'No Country for Old Men.'

"The biblical and apocalyptic themes set him apart from many contemporary writers, and his well-honed style often seemed chiseled onto the page, but Mexicans and Mexican Americans weren't depicted as real characters in his work: They were more like props. So, I took what I could from him as a writer, especially his style and certain themes about outsiders and loners in a country with collapsing myths. I admired him for his fierce independence."

Clark said McCarthy's image as a recluse might have been exaggerated by the national media. He said McCarthy always was cordial and Clark was able to talk with him several times about his writing and his books.

"I asked him how he ended up in El Paso, and he looked at me and said, 'This is where the transmission went out,'" Clark said of his first encounter with him. "And he put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'That was a joke.' "

McCarthy simply chose not to engage with the media, he said. "He did not do book tours or signings at bookstores or speaking engagements. He did not do interviews. The interview he did with Oprah (Winfrey) was a big deal," he said. "But he just chose to let the writing speak for itself."

He added, "I found Cormac to be very generous with people that he sensed genuinely loved and respected his writing and truly cared about his books rather than his celebrity. But I will also remember his quick, wry sense of humor and his diverse, wide-ranging interests – his curiosity about everything from math, physics and philosophy to the mechanics of cars and short-bed Ford pick-up trucks."

Clark said he believes "Blood Meridian" will be the "Moby-Dick" of the 21st century.

María Cortés González may be reached at 915-546-6150, mcortes@elpasotimes.com and @EPTMaria on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso acquaintances, author recall Cormac McCarthy after his death