The Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (Lonesome Dove) and Oscar-winning screenwriter (“Brokeback Mountain”) 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.

On May 1, McMurtry will discuss his work at a free public program at 12 noon at the Central Library, 630 W. Fifth St.  The event is part of the popular ALOUD series; reservations are recommended and can be made at www.aloudla.org or by calling (213) 228-7025.

City Librarian Fontayne Holmes and Library Foundation Chairman 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 Award for his extensive contribution to literature.  McMurtry has 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 works of criticism including Film Flam and Sacagawea’s Nickname, as well as a memoir, Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen.

He is also a book collector and the proprietor of Booked Up, in his hometown of Archer City, Tex., which is one of the largest single used bookstores in the United States, carrying more than 400,000 titles.

During the Los Angeles Public Library Awards Dinner gala, approximately 700 guests will gather in the 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.

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.

Samuel W. 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 and table sponsorship opportunities, 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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