Lon T. Williams followed Robert E. Howard in writing weird westerns. Rather obscure, he was first republished by Larry Estep at pulpgen.com (which has now vanished into the aether). Williams’ stories of deputy sheriff Lee Winters, most of which appeared in Real Western Stories, are formulaic, with the hero encountering weirdness as he returns from… Continue reading Lon T. Williams : Weird writings of a Law Clerk
Category: Westerns
Elliott W. Michener: From Criminal to Author and Gardener
For nearly 30 years, Alcatraz was THE prison, the one no one escaped from. Al Capone was held there, as were Machine Gun Kelly, Mickey Cohen and other prominent gangsters. A total of 36 prisoners made 14 escape attempts, two men trying twice. 23 were caught alive, six were shot and killed during their escape,… Continue reading Elliott W. Michener: From Criminal to Author and Gardener
Tricks of the trade: The Bargain Counter, Ace-High, May 1926
Most pulp magazines had regular letter columns and editorial departments. Ace-High, Clayton’s first pulp, offered The Bargain Counter, a department for people to exchange or trade items. It was quite popular, and if someone were to index it, would offer quite the look at pulp readership. I recently read the May 3, 1926 of Ace-High,… Continue reading Tricks of the trade: The Bargain Counter, Ace-High, May 1926
The Female of the Species: Gunslinging Gerta
Back in the early days of the American film industry, movies starring women in leading roles weren’t uncommon. Helen Holmes (Hazards of Helen, 1914-1917) and Pearl White (Perils of Pauline. 1914) showed that women could do action movies whether set on the ground, sky and water. Till the early 1920s, when movies transitioned from serials… Continue reading The Female of the Species: Gunslinging Gerta
Bill Gulick: No horsing around, and other secrets of a writer
A profile of Bill Gulick that originally appeared in the Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review dated July 20, 1958. I’ve added a few excerpts from another article in the Tacoma, Washington News-Tribune dated June 26, 1948. Gulick Brings Old West Alive By Jay Kalez IF BILL GULICK, Walla Walla’s prolific novelist and writer of Saturday Evening Post… Continue reading Bill Gulick: No horsing around, and other secrets of a writer
Craving hardboiled pulp? Try the first issue of Texas Western free, now at archive.org
Launching a new pulp in 1953, as the last flakes of the once mighty pulp empires fluttered around the publisher’s offices, was a bold decision. What were they thinking? Here is an excerpt from the editorial in the first issue of Texas Western: Here it is, readers, the magazine you’ve been demanding! TEXAS WESTERN is… Continue reading Craving hardboiled pulp? Try the first issue of Texas Western free, now at archive.org
Love your style, pulp edition
Ranch Romances, launched in 1924, was the first and most successful western/romance title. Someone once said it was western enough to appeal to cowboy fiction lovers, and romantic enough to appeal to women. The formula lasted nearly five decades; RR was the last of the pulps to die when it ceased publication in 1971. Success… Continue reading Love your style, pulp edition
Roe Richmond – Western Writer, Professional athlete, Cowboy
Everybody thinks they know what a western is. Frank Gruber, a long time pulp author with a flair for self-promotion, categorized the western into seven categories: In my reading I’ve come across these plots frequently, but such categorization does disservice to writers who stayed away from these tropes. Like Roe Richmond. That may come as… Continue reading Roe Richmond – Western Writer, Professional athlete, Cowboy
One writer looks at the evolution of the western story
John A. Saxon (1886-1947) wrote mostly western and detective stories in a writing career that spanned more than twenty five years. Working as a law clerk, he wrote stories on the side and was part of a California writing circle that included Robert Leslie Bellem, the author of the Dan Turner stories. ABOUT THE AUTHOR… Continue reading One writer looks at the evolution of the western story
Photos of Walt Coburn’s house in Tucson, Arizona
Walt Coburn was a famous western author in the pulps. He started his career as a writer when his lifetime goal of being a cowboy was ended after an accident. With a little encouragement from author Robert J. Horton, who had heard Coburn’s stories earlier and realized his talent for storytelling, Coburn parlayed his start… Continue reading Photos of Walt Coburn’s house in Tucson, Arizona