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Billie Letts
Born
Billie Dean Gipson

(1938-05-30)May 30, 1938
Died August 2, 2014(2014-08-02) (aged 76)
Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation Novelist, educator
Spouse(s)
Dennis Letts
(m. 1958; died 2008)
Children 3; including Tracy

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
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