Texas playwright Horton Foote has died at 92

Described as "the subtle prose-poet of small-town Texas" by Lawson Taitte of the Dallas Morning News, Horton Foote was a playright for rural America. Most of his plays took place in a fictional small town similar to Wharton, Tex., where he was born. His portrayal of southeastern Texas was a trademark of Foote's throughout a career that lasted nearly 70 years. (Associated Press photo by Kathy Willens)

"Generally his scripts dealt with ordinary people in recognizable, if stressful, family situations," writes Tiatte. "The dialogue was always spare and elegant, but frequently the plot went in a slightly quirky direction that kept audiences guessing." (Read more)

The Daily Yonder dubbed Foote "Rural America's greatest playwright." He won Academy Awards for his screenplays of To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies and won the 1995 Pulitzer Prize for drama for "The Young Man from Atlanta."