In two novels and two books of short stories, he has evoked the myths and mores of his region with such fidelity and affectionate understanding, such lucid art and vivid drama, that he has emerged as one of the two or three internationally admired southwestern writers to have made their reputations since the long standing achievement of Katherine Anne Porter in using southwestern life in fiction. Viewing Texas with a perspective gained from his later career in New England, London, Paris, and Rome, he has been detached and objective in chronicling southwestern values, attached and subjective in his celebration of man's will to endure and prevail wherever his destiny places him. In recognition of his artist's power to endow authentic local life with universal meaning, we are pleased to confer upon him this day the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.