His friendships with other writers were a great influence in his life and career as well, including Larry McMurtry, Wendell Berry, Michael Koepf, Raymond Carver,[1] Chuck Kinder, Al Young, Diane Smith,[2][3] Bill Kittredge, Scott Turow, Jon Jackson[4] and James Crumley.
[5] He attended the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned an undergraduate degree in economics and met his wife, Susan Sherzer Parsons.
After the birth of his daughter Katherine in Houston, Crawford was awarded a Stegner Fellowship, and moved with his family to California.
Over his life, he worked on his novels in Houston, London, Pézenas, France, Montana, and San Francisco.
[citation needed] Many of his novels are set in West Texas, such as Lords of the Plain, much admired by Ronald Reagan,[6][7] and The Backslider, and others in California, such as The Bad Communist.