Tony Hillerman, mystery writer was 83

Tony Hillerman introduced readers to the Navajo culture of the Southwest through his series of mystery novels centered on Navajo Tribal Police Lt. Joe Leaphorn and officer Jim Chee. Hillerman wrote 18 Navajo mysteries starting with "The Blessing Way." His books sold well and he became president and grand master of the Mystery Writers of America. Before turning to books, Hillerman was a reporter and the executive editor of The New Mexican in Santa Fe, then the chairman of the journalism department at the University of New Mexico. Hillerman died Sunday of pulmonary failure in an Albuquerque hospital. AP