Drawing inspiration from the stark New Mexico landscape and Navajo traditions, author Tony Hillerman's novels focused on the idea of hózhó (or xojo). This refers to beauty, harmony, and the interconnectedness of the natural world. This video is an excerpt from a short documentary produced for the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes. Hillerman was the 2004 Kirsch Award winner. - - Video by John Vande Wege.

"Award-winning Western author Tony Hillerman died Sunday, October 26, 2008, of pulmonary failure in Albuquerque, N.M. He was 83. Hillerman, who was Wild West editor Gregory Lalire's former journalism professor at the University of New Mexico, sat down for the following interview with Wild West in June 2008."