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

L.L. Foreman – Western Author

L.L. Foreman was a frequent contributor to the western pulps from the mid 1930s to the early 1950s. His series character Preacher Devlin started in 1934 and appeared in more than 45 stories till 1949, becoming one of the longer lasting series characters in the western pulps. Coincidentally, Star Western had the Deacon Bottle series… Continue reading L.L. Foreman – Western Author

Western author Norman A. Fox’s website, maintained by his family

Western author Norman A. Fox (c. 1930s) I recently found an excellent website on the western author Norman A. Fox, a founder of the Western Writers of America. It has a biography and photos of the author, a bibliography of his stories and movies, and even has a video of a presentation on him made… Continue reading Western author Norman A. Fox’s website, maintained by his family