An American writer, born in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, to an Italian immigrant father. She attended Eastern New Mexico University, where she majored in English and political science, then moved to Arizona in 1977. She collaborated with author Larry McMurtry since they first worked together on the semi-fictionalized biography Pretty Boy Floyd. For her work in Brokeback Mountain, she won numerous accolades, including an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, a Writers Guild of America Award, and a BAFTA Award.