Good Night, Horton

A fond farewell goes to Horton Foote, who died yesterday at 92. Playwright and screenwriter, the man expressed with a simple elegance.

He won two well-deserved screenwriting Oscars. The first was for his adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird. And as great as that film turned out, it's the spare yet powerful emotion built into his script for Tender Mercies that I tend to look to when I need a little touch of minimalist beauty. Every time I've watched it, I can't help asking, "How in the hell does something so simple work so well?"

Some of his plays are pretty good, too.

Thank you for writing, Horton Foote.