Robert Laxalt Papers

Robert Laxalt was born on September 25, 1923, in Alturas, California, to Dominique and Theresa Laxalt, immigrants from the Basque provinces of the French Pyrenees. His father was a sheepherder, and his mother operated a boarding house after their move to Carson City, Nevada. Robert was the second of six children: Paul (the oldest), Peter, John, Sister Mary Robert of the Holy Family Order, and Marie Aurelie Bini.

Robert was educated in Carson City, graduating from Carson City High School in 1941. He attended Santa Clara University until entering the U. S. Consular Service during World War II (1943-1945). When the war ended, he became a student at the University of Nevada, Reno. He graduated with a B.A. in English, French, and philosophy in 1947. He married Joyce Nielsen in 1949. They had three children: Bruce, Monique, and Kristin. Laxalt worked as a newspaper reporter during college and after graduation. He started the Capital News Service, Nevada's first wire service, to cover Nevada politics. He was a staff correspondent for United Press, the Nevada correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, and the Nevada political correspondent for the New York Times.

While working as a reporter, Laxalt began writing short stories and magazine articles, selling his first in 1948. He wrote over two hundred articles and short stories, including several for National Geographic Magazine. Laxalt was working on his first novel by 1952 and eventually published sixteen books, both novels and non-fiction. All of his books are based on Nevada, his Basque heritage, or the Basque country. His first published novel, A Man in the Wheatfield, was selected by the American Library Association's Notable Books Council for its "Notable books of 1964" list. His 1974 National Geographic Magazine article, "The Other Nevada," received a Best Western Short Subject Spur Award from the Western Writers of America, Inc. The novella, A Cup of Tea in Pamplona (1985), was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in Fiction.

Laxalt became the Director of News and Publications for the University of Nevada, Reno, in 1954. In 1960, he began to organize what would become the University of Nevada Press, serving as its first director from 1961-1983. He retired as director of the University of Nevada Press in 1983 but continued to teach in the Journalism Department. He was the second Writer in Residence at the University of Nevada, Reno. In 1988, Laxalt became the first person named to the Distinguished Nevada Author Chair at the university.

Robert Laxalt studied Basque culture in Spain and France as a Fulbright scholar, was instrumental in organizing the Western Basque Festival in the United States, and helped establish the Basque Studies Program at the University of Nevada, Reno. He spearheaded a drive to raise funds for a National Monument to the Basque Sheepherder of the American West, located in Rancho San Rafael Park in Reno. In 1986, he was awarded the Tambor de Oro from the City of San Sebastian, Spain, for his contributions to the Basque people's culture and homeland.

Robert Laxalt died in Reno, Nevada, on March 23, 2001. In Laxalt's honor, the Nevada State Library and Archives in Carson City was dedicated as Nevada's first Literary Landmark on Nevada Day, October 31, 2003. The Literary Landmarks Register is a program of Friends of Libraries USA. The first annual Robert Laxalt Distinguished Writer's Program was held at the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno in February 2004.