Stephen
Harrigan Papers
1971-2000, n.d.
Collection 012
17.5 linear feet
35 boxes plus
oversize
Note: Additional Stephen Harrigan archives have been received since this on-line inventory was compiled. Contact the archivist for the latest information on our holdings.
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Acquisition: Donation since 1987. Donors: Stephen Harrigan, Bill Wittliff.
Access: Direct inquiries to Archivist, Writers
Collection, Texas State University, San Marcos, Texas, 78666-4604.
Processed by:
Jennifer B. Patterson, May 1994, Amanda Oates, 2000, Inventory Revised 2005.
BIOGRAPHICAL
SKETCH
Stephen
Harrigan was born on October 5, 1948, and grew up in Oklahoma City, Abilene and
Corpus Christi. After receiving a degree in English from The University of
Texas at Austin in 1971, Harrigan briefly attended graduate school and worked
as a yardman and as an ad writer for the University Co-op. He contributed
articles to a number of magazines, including Rolling Stone, The Atlantic Monthly, Esquire and The Texas Observer. He became a regular writer for Texas
Monthly shortly after
its inception and co-founded and edited Lucille, a journal of poetry, which published 10
issues between 1974 and 1978.
Harrigan
received a Dobie-Paisano fellowship in 1977, which allowed him to complete his
first novel. Aransas,
published by Knopf in 1980, tells the story of Jeff Dowling, an alienated young
man who comes to terms with himself and the world as he trains two dolphins for
a circus in Port Aransas, Texas. The New York Times named the novel one of the notable books
of 1980, and reviewers praised its realism and style. His second novel, Jacob's
Well, also focused on
man's relationship with nature, following the lives of three people who are
drawn together to explore an artesian well in Central Texas. The book was named
one of the best books of 1984 by The Washington Post and The Dallas Morning News.
Harrigan's
recent books, until the publication in 2000 of Gates of the Alamo, have been nonfiction. As a freelance
writer and later staff writer and editor for Texas Monthly, Harrigan displayed a talent for
journalism, contributing interviews and other investigative pieces, but he also
focused on the natural environment, writing about rivers, Big Bend, Padre
Island and other Texas landmarks. Many of these essays were collected in
Harrigan's third book, A Natural State: Essays on Texas (1988), which was recently republished
by the University of Texas Press.
His 1992 book Water and Light: A Diver's Journey to a Coral Reef combined research on aquatic life with
his own experiences scuba diving off a coral reef in the Caribbean. The New
York Times Book Review
called Water and Light
"moving, intelligent ... literary," and praised Harrigan's
"remarkable ability to discuss the metaphysical and spiritual aspects of
underwater exploration." Harrigan has also published a book of poetry and
written screenplays, one of which, The Last of His Tribe, was broadcast on HBO.
Harrigan's
works are characterized by an intense interest in humans and their relationship
to the environment around them. He once wrote of his interest in natural
subjects: "I don't know what nature is exactly--whether it is a category
that includes human beings or shuts them out--but for me it has always
contained that hint of eeriness, the sense that some vital information--common
knowledge to all the universe--has been specifically withheld from me.
Sometimes, as with the snake, this secrecy has seemed malevolent, but far more
often it has been wonderfully tantalizing. For much of my life I have been
obsessed with nature, but not in the way a naturalist would be obsessed with
it--driven to classify, to define relationships, to comprehend the world's
marvelous intricacy. I have simply wanted to feel more fully a part of that
intricacy, to see something other than neutral scorn in the eyes of that
half-imagined snake." (Introduction to A Natural State, UT Press, 1994)
Harrigan
lives in Austin.
SCOPE AND
CONTENT NOTE
The
collection is composed of 21 boxes of manuscripts, galley proofs, notes,
clippings, correspondence, artwork, financial and legal papers, screenplays,
photographs and artifacts, 1971 to the present that document Stephen Harrigan's
writing career. It has been arranged into six series: Works (1971-2000, n.d.),
Correspondence (1976-1991, n.d.), Personal Materials (n.d.), Works by Other
Authors, (1971, 1982, 1992-1993, n.d.), Texas Institute of Letters (1982-1983,
1985-1986), and Clippings (1971-1983).
The
Works series comprises the largest part of the Harrigan collection. It
thoroughly documents Harrigan's methodical writing process. Most of the books
and articles can be traced from the earliest notes taken by Harrigan to a proof
copy or published work. The other series relate generally to his writing
career. The materials are arranged in chronological order. Largely absent from
the collection are personal papers or correspondence.
Books
in the Stephen Harrigan Collection have been cataloged separately. See the Jan
Reid Collection for correspondence with Harrigan. See also accession nos.
88-052 for photographs of Harrigan by Bill Wittliff, 89-012 for an interview
with Harrigan, among others, for the 90th anniversary of TIL, 90-061 for a note
by Harrigan tipped into a copy of Raven's Bride, 92-061 for a teleplay by
Harrigan for the TV series ÒNed BlessingÓ, 92-073 and 92-093 for clippings
about Harrigan by Susan Hanson, and 93-108 for an interview with Harrigan and
others by Michael Hall.
SERIES
DESCRIPTIONS
Series 1:
Works, 1971-2000, n.d.
Boxes 1-16,
18-31
This series
surveys Harrigan's creative works from his work as ad writer at the University
Co-op to the publication of his most recent book, Water and Light. It includes manuscript drafts, notes,
notebooks, galley proofs, correspondence, magazines, clippings, financial and
legal papers, screenplays, photographs and artifacts. In some cases Harrigan
added notes and inscriptions describing the materials and providing background
information. This series is
further divided into six subseries: Early Works, Books, Screenplays, Songs,
Contributions to Texas Monthly,
and General Works.
The first
subseries, Early Works, contains notes, clippings, manuscripts, correspondence,
artwork, financial papers and forms documenting Harrigan's writing before the
publication of his first book. It contains clippings of the ads Harrigan wrote
for the University Co-op and materials from Lucille, the journal of poetry that
he helped found and edit. Both are introduced by notes written by Harrigan in
1988 giving additional information and background about his job at the Co-op
and his association with Lucille.
The Co-op clippings are arranged chronologically, and the Lucille files have been grouped by type of
material, having lost their original order. Of particular interest in the Lucille files are the three folders of
submissions of aspiring poets, some of whom have gone on to literary success,
such as Naomi Shihab (Nye), R.S. Gwynn and Vassar Miller.
The second
subseries, entitled Books, contains research notes, background materials, legal
papers, handwritten and typed manuscripts, galley proofs, correspondence,
reviews and artwork for four of Harrigan's published books. There are multiple
drafts of each book, and the handwritten notes and early drafts of Aransas,
Jacob's Well, Water
and Light and Gates
of the Alamo provide an
overview of Harrigan's writing process. His attention to detail and in-depth
organization are demonstrated in his research for Water and Light, which
includes two boxes of index cards with notes about the sea and the history of
diving as well as his personal notes from his trip to Grand Turk Island. The
materials are arranged alphabetically by book.
Screenplays, the
third subseries, contains research notes and multiple drafts of Harrigan's
screenplay ISHI, which was filmed for HBO in 1992 as The Last of His Tribe.
Many of these drafts were maintained in notebooks (which are stored in the
Artifact cases at the end of the collection) and materials found in the pockets
of these notebooks have been placed at the back of each folder. The drafts are
arranged chronologically, from the earliest draft to the final production
script and shooting notes. Also found in the subseries is the script ÒMoonwalker,Ó
co-written by Harrigan and Lawrence Wright.
The fourth subseries, Songs, contains various typed
and handwritten drafts of a song written by Harrigan entitled ÒThe Old Three.Ó
The fifth
subseries, Contributions to Texas Monthly, contains research materials and notes,
manuscript drafts, galley proofs, correspondence, photographs, artwork, and
published articles written by Harrigan for Texas Monthly magazine. Harrigan's talent as a
journalist is well documented here, showing the broad range of his interests,
from an interview with Governor Bill Clements to research on the sculptor
Pompio Coppini to essays on the natural wonders of Texas. Some of these
articles were later published in Harrigan's third book, A Natural State: Essays
on Texas. Also included
are a number of complete issues of Texas Monthly in which Harrigan's articles appeared.
Within the final
subseries are general materials relating to Harrigan's writing career. It
includes multiple handwritten and typed drafts on broadcasting, a typed essay
on the exploration of Texas, an application for the NASA "Journalist in
Space" program, a press release, and a clipping about the author. Also
included are handwritten notebooks of HarriganÕs poetry and prose.
Series 2:
Correspondence, 1976-1991, n.d.
Box 16
Within this
series is correspondence relating to Harrigan's writing. The letters range from
requests for articles from magazines and journals to letters of interest from
agents and publishers, "Letters to the Editor" forwarded to Harrigan
from Texas Monthly, letters from other writers and friends, fan mail, and
correspondence from organizations like the Texas Institute of Letters, of which
Harrigan is a former president. The series is arranged chronologically except
for one folder of short notes from Lee Goerner, Harrigan's editor at Knopf.
Other correspondents of note include John A. Sterling, Wallace Stegner, A.C.
Greene, Elmer Kelton and Gunnar M. Hansen.
Series 3:
Personal Materials, n.d.
Boxes 16, 33
Within this
series are a few materials relating to Harrigan's personal life. Of particular
interest are swimming fins and underwater slate, still imprinted with faint
notes from a scuba diving trip.
Series 4:
Works By Others, 1971, 1982, 1992-1993, n.d.
Boxes 16-17,
31-32
This series
contains the typescripts of one screenplay and two books by writers other than
Harrigan. Arrangement is alphabetical by author.
Series 5:
Texas Institute of Letters , 1982-1983, 1985-1986
Box 32
This series
contains material from HarriganÕs years as an active member of the Texas
Institute of letters. The
documents include meeting minutes, financial statements, correspondence,
newspaper clippings, and programs from Institute events.
Series 6:
Clippings, 1971-1983)
Boxes 32, 34-35
This series
includes photocopies of newspaper clippings about Harrigan and his work saved
by the author and original clippings of his ads for the University Co-op. His Co-op ads have been preservation
photocopied and reside in Series I.
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