On Sunday, Tony Hillerman, the writer who brought the southwest and the Navajo Indian nation to life for many readers, died at the age of 83.   I began reading his books many moons ago, and when I visited that part of Arizona and New Mexico a couple of years ago, I felt like I was stepping into one of his books.  The light, the mountains, the vast empty spaces - all there - just as he had described them.  The only things missing were Jim Chee and Lt. Joe Leaphorn, his enduring characters in many of his books.  If you haven't read one of his books, or if you've missed one or two of his books along the way, you're in for a treat, from his first book The Blessing Way, published in 1970 to his last, The Shape Shifter, published in 2006.  Thank you, Mr. Hillerman.