{{Short description|American journalist (1943–2022)}} {{Use American English|date=July 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox person | name = Aaron Latham | image = Reagan Contact Sheet C36436 (cropped).jpg | caption = Aaron Latham with his family and Ronald Reagan, 1986 | birth_date = October 3, 1943 | birth_place = Spur, Texas, U.S. | death_date = July 23, 2022 (aged 78) | death_place = Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. | education = Amherst College (BA) | spouse = {{marriage|Lesley Stahl|1977|<!-- Omission per Template:Marriage instructions -->}} | children = 1 }}
'''Aaron Latham''' (October 3, 1943 – July 23, 2022) was an American journalist and screenwriter who was known for the films ''Urban Cowboy'' (1980), ''Perfect'' (1985), and ''The Program'' (1993).
==Biography== Latham was born on October 3, 1943, in Spur, Texas.<ref name=CAO>{{cite web|title=Aaron Latham|work=Contemporary Authors Online|publisher=Gale|url=https://gale.com/|location=Detroit|year=2004}}</ref> He was raised in a Methodist family, the son of Annie Launa (Cozby) and Cecil Clyde Latham.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Paul-G-Latham - User Trees - Genealogy.com|url=https://www.genealogy.com/ftm/l/a/t/Paul-G-Latham/GENE1-0011.html|access-date=2020-07-01|website=www.genealogy.com}}</ref><ref name="PeopleMixed">[http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20069431,00.html People Magazine: "CBS Anchor Lesley Stahl and Writer Aaron Latham Have a Mixed-Media Marriage" By Martha Smilgis] October 31, 1977</ref> Latham attended Amherst College, where he studied literature and served as an editor on the ''Amherst Student,'' the college newspaper, graduating in 1966.
== Career == He was a regular contributor to such publications as ''Rolling Stone'', ''Esquire'', ''Talk'', and ''The New York Times''. He wrote the article that inspired the 1980 movie ''Urban Cowboy'' and co-wrote its script with director James Bridges. He also co-wrote the book for the short-lived 2003 Broadway musical version. He also wrote novels and co-wrote the screenplays ''Perfect'', also with Bridges, another film inspired by his articles, and ''The Program''. He wrote "Crazy Sundays", published in 1971, which is a F. Scott Fitzgerald biography about his years in "Hollywood". It epitomizes the reality of life after fame in Hollywood. <ref>Viking Press</ref>
==Personal life== Latham married CBS News and ''60 Minutes'' correspondent Lesley Stahl in 1977.<ref name=PeopleMixed /> Their daughter is named Taylor. He died of complications from Parkinson's disease on July 23, 2022, at the age of 78.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://variety.com/2022/biz/news/aaron-latham-dead-78-urban-cowboy-lesley-stahl-1235325120/|title=Aaron Latham, Writer Whose Texas Monthly Story Inspired 'Urban Cowboy,' Dies at 78|first1=Brian|last1=Steinberg|date=July 25, 2022}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *[https://web.archive.org/web/20070310225121/http://www.americantheatrewing.org/seminars/detail/urban_cowboy_04_03 Production: Urban Cowboy] ''Working in the Theatre Seminar'' video at American Theatre Wing.org, April 2003 *{{IMDb name|0490061}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Latham, Aaron}} Category:1943 births Category:2022 deaths Category:20th-century American journalists Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:American male dramatists and playwrights Category:20th-century American male journalists Category:American male non-fiction writers Category:American male screenwriters Category:American musical theatre librettists Category:American United Methodists Category:Amherst College alumni Category:Journalists from Texas Category:People from Spur, Texas Category:Place of birth missing Category:Screenwriters from Texas