Biography
Aaron Latham was an American journalist, screenwriter and novelist. Born in Spur, Texas, he was educated at Amherst College and Princeton University, where he earned a PhD in English. His early career included reporting for the Washington Post before he wrote longer-form articles for Esquire and other magazines.
His 1978 Esquire piece on the honky-tonk Gilley’s inspired the 1980 film Urban Cowboy, for which he wrote the screenplay with James Bridges. He later co-wrote the screenplays for Perfect (1985) and The Program (1993). Latham also wrote novels, including works in a Texas trilogy, and co-wrote the book for the 2003 Broadway musical adaptation of Urban Cowboy.
He was married to journalist Lesley Stahl of CBS’s 60 Minutes and had one daughter, Taylor Latham.
