The director of UNM Press, the University's publisher of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and other literature, has been awarded a 2002 Medal of Honor for lifetime achievement by the Cherokee Honor Society.
Luther Wilson, who is currently in his second stint as director of the press, said the organization has been able to take advantage of the strong multicultural presence at UNM by publishing works by several American Indian and Hispanic authors.
"Certainly the press reflects the strengths of the University," Wilson said.
He said that the press has a long tradition of publishing works by American Indian authors.
The director added that he has overseen and contributed to the publication of more than 1,500 works of literature about American Indian culture or history.
Wilson, who has a "very strong" interest in American Indian cultures, including ones from Mexico, Central and South America, began his university literary career as a member of the editorial staff at the Cambridge University Press in the early 1970s.
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He has worked as the editor in chief of the University of Oklahoma Press and was named the director of UNM Press in 1980. He moved to New York to work as the director of the Syracuse University Press and then became the director of the University Press of Colorado, which publishes works for several Colorado colleges and universities.
Finally, Wilson returned to UNM in 2000 to be head of the University Press once more.
Some of the most notable titles Wilson has worked on include Navajo Language, by Robert Young and William Morgan, The Life and Art of Jerome Tiger, by Peggy Tiger and Molly Babcock, and one of the most successful University Press books ever published, Forest Carter's award-winning The Education of Little Tree.
Wilson, who earned his bachelor's degree in Russian literature from Michigan State University, said that it is important to publish literature about American Indian culture by American Indian authors because it offers a more comprehensive account of history.
"The basic idea is to give voice to American Indian authors and let them tell their own stories," Wilson said.
The Cherokee Honor Society is based in Tahlequah, Okla., which is also the center of the Cherokee Nation.
Previous recipients of the Medal of Honor include actor Tommy Lee Jones and Cherokee novelist, poet and playwright Diane Glancy.
