[7] After Portis graduated, he worked for various newspapers as a reporter, including the Memphis Commercial Appeal and almost two years at the Arkansas Gazette, for which he wrote the "Our Town" column.

She recruits Deputy Marshal Rooster Cogburn — in whom Mattie sees one possessed of "grit" — to help her hunt down Chaney (who has joined an outlaw band) to "avenge her father’s blood".

[8] Both Norwood and True Grit were adapted as movies, with fellow Arkansan Glen Campbell and Kim Darby in leading roles in the two films.

John Wayne won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Actor for his performance as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit, one of the top box-office hits of 1969.

A second film version, written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen and starring Jeff Bridges and Hailee Steinfeld debuted in December 2010.

[11] His final published work was the collection Escape Velocity: A Charles Portis Miscellany, including journalism and other non-fiction, short stories, and a single play, Delray's New Moon.

[12] New York Times book reviewer Carlo Rotella said, "You can enjoy Escape Velocity as a stand-alone collection, but a Portis miscellany will always be read too as a key to the experiences and craft lessons that shaped the novels.

"[13] Writing of Portis, Aaron Gilbreath has observed that his literary obscurity might, like him, remain forever hidden, because "he won't surface long enough to let reporters ask him about it.

"[14] It has been suggested that Portis's novels "were a little too humorous and a little too 'regional' to attract the kind of attention that leads to National Book Awards and excerpts in textbook anthologies.