Billie Dean Letts (; 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).Letts family information , twbookmark.com; accessed August 13, 2014.Excerpt from Playbill ; accessed August 13, 2014. 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.Obituary for Billie Letts, nytimes.com, August 5, 2014; accessed August 13, 2014.
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
References
External links Author interview: Billie Letts at Hachette Book Group USA Interview With Billie Letts (July 2004) Letts, Billie Dean Gipson (1938–2014) in the Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture