Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and Oscar-winning screenwriter Larry McMurtry will be honored at the 13th annual Los Angeles Public Library Awards Dinner, Wednesday, April 30, 6 p.m., at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, 9500 Wilshire Blvd., Beverly Hills.  The event is presented by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles.

City Librarian Fontayne Holmes and Library Foundation President Jeffrey P. Brown made the announcement, noting that the net proceeds from the Awards Dinner will benefit Library enrichment programs and services.

McMurtry, the internationally acclaimed novelist, screenwriter and essayist, will accept the 2008 Los Angeles Public Library Literary Awardfor his extensive contribution to literature.  McMurtry received a Pulitzer Prize for his 1985 novel Lonesome Dove and an Academy Award and Golden Globe for his screen adaptation (co-written with Diana Ossana) of the film “Brokeback Mountain.”  Most recently, McMurtry co-wrote and executive produced with Ossana the “Comanche Moon” television miniseries based on his novel of the same name.

McMurtry’s other novels—many of which have been made into motion pictures—include Horseman, Pass By, The Last Picture Show, Terms of Endearment, Cadillac Jack, Anything for Billy, and The Berrybender Narratives tetralogy, as well as numerous critical essays.

During the Los Angeles Public Library Awards Dinner gala, approximately 700 guests will gather in the Grand Ballroom of the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for a cocktail reception at 6:00 p.m., followed by the awards program, remarks by  McMurtry, and an elegant seated dinner.

On May 1, McMurtry will also deliver a free public lecture as part of the ALOUD series, at 12 noon at the Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St., downtown Los Angeles.

At the awards dinner John Cooke will be given the 2008 Light of Learning Award. Cooke’s commitment to the Library and the Library Foundation has been one of
extraordinary dedication over the years; he was a founding member of the Library Foundation Board of Directors, serving from 1992 to 2007, and was the Chairman of the Board from 2001 to 2005.

The 2008 Corporate Philanthropy Award will be presented to Wachovia in honor of its three-year partnership to support educational and literacy initiatives of the Los Angeles Public Library.

Past honorees of the Library’s literary award include Tony Kushner, Norman Mailer, Harper Lee, Susan Sontag, August Wilson, David McCullough, Carlos Fuentes, E.L. Doctorow, Louise Erdrich, Seamus Heaney, John Updike, and Doris Kearns Goodwin.

Sam Cargill, Nancy Harahan, and Brian K. Kaufman, Directors of the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, will serve as Dinner co-chairs.  Veronique Peck is the Honorary Chair.

For information about the Los Angeles Public Library Awards Dinner, or to make reservations at $750 each, call (213) 228-7500 or visit the Library Foundation Web site at www.lfla.org.

The Los Angeles Public Library serves the largest population of any library in the nation.  Its Central Library, 71 branch libraries, more than six million books and state-of-the-art technology accessible at www.lapl.org, provide everyone with free and easy access to information and the opportunity for life-long learning.

The Library Foundation of Los Angeles seeks private contributions to benefit the Los Angeles Public Library.  Since its creation in 1992, the Library Foundation has raised more than $75 million for programs and services that reach thousands of people each year.

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