A leading light in Texas literature, Judy Alter, died in Fort Worth on July 13, 2024, nine days short of her 86th birthday, after a brief illness. A celebration of her life was held July 24 at Fort Worth’s United Christian Church, where she was a member. Survivors include her four children and seven grandchildren.
Alter was a prolific author who wrote more than one hundred books of fiction and nonfiction, many of them dealing with Texas stories, history, and people.
Born in Chicago on July 22, 1938, Judy Alter moved to Fort Worth in 1965 and soon began embracing the city’s history and culture, as well as Texas’s Western themes. She earned a Ph.D in English from Texas Christian University (TCU), with a special interest in literature of the American West, and her first book, a young-adult novel, After Pa Was Shot, was published in 1978.
Alter went to work for TCU in the early 1980s and soon began establishing herself not only as a writer but as an editor, book reviewer, and motivator of other writers. From 1982 to 1987, she served as editor of TCU Press and then as its director until 2009, when she retired and began writing books and articles full time.
The books she produced include: works of historical fiction, such as So Far from Paradise (2019); young-adult fiction, such as Callie Shaw, Stableboy (1996); mystery fiction, such as Contract for Chaos (2018); cookbooks, such as Gourmet on a Hot Plate (2018); and nonfiction such as The Most Land, the Best Cattle: The Waggoners of Texas (2021).
One of her longtime friends and colleagues, Kathryn Allen, a former editor of SMU Press in Dallas, recently told Bob Francis of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:, “She out-Texaned those of us who had been here a lot longer than her.”
From February 2020 until December 2022, in the midst of her many other projects, Alter also wrote a book review column for Lone Star Literary Life, titled “Texas Reads Mystery with Judy Alter.” She focused on both traditional mystery novels and the sub-genre known as “cozy mysteries.” Their stories typically are set in a small town, the investigator often is an amateur sleuth, and any sex or violence in the story takes place off-stage. Alter herself wrote 17 cozy mysteries.
“Making her friendship was one of the best things that happened to me during my Lone Star Literary Life days,” said Kristine Hall, who recently retired as the publication’s editor and publisher. (Amy Kelly is the new editor and publisher.) “We stayed in close contact by email especially through COVID and found we were like-minded on many subjects. Every Saturday, Judy would email me kudos and commentary on that day's LSLL newsletter, always the cheerleader for me and the literary cause. She was invaluable to me not only on the work front but also as a friend and confidante, and we commiserated with each other on many a thing, many a time. I will sorely miss Judy’s humor, support, and sage advice.”
Tracy Hull, dean of the TCU Library, told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that Alter was an almost nonstop writer. “If she wasn’t working on a new book, she had an idea percolating in her mind, or she’d channel her energies into her regular, and often amusing, blog entries.”
Alter offered some straightforward advice for new writers in a 2016 interview by Kay Ellington for LSLL: “Read a lot, especially in the genres you’re interested in,” she counseled. “Write but don’t expect every word to be golden. Realize that building a career as an author is a long, slow, tough process. Join a writers’ group of some kind if you can—exchanging ideas is a huge benefit.”
Alter was a past president of the Western Writers of America (WWA) and a former secretary of the Texas Institute of Letters (TIL). She also received numerous awards from the TIL and WWA and was inducted into both the Texas Literary Hall of Fame and the WWA Hall of Fame.
Memorial contributions in honor of Judith MacBain (Judy) Alter can be made to the Humane Society of North Texas or to a charity of your choice. To have a tree or trees planted in her memory, contact the Sympathy Store.
