Zane Grey (1875–1939,) fully Pearl Zane Grey, was an American novelist. He is celebrated for his romantic novels of the American West, which mostly shaped a new literary genre called “the western.” His novels and short stories have been adapted into 112 films, two television episodes, and a television series.
Born in Zanesville, Ohio, Grey began his working life as a dentist, but after a trip out west in 1904 turned out ‘Westerns’ with machine-like regularity, starting with Spirit of the Border (1905.) Grey’s westerns totaled 54 novels and sold 12 million copies. His best known, Riders of the Purple Sage (1912,) sold nearly two million copies. His other popular novels included The Lone Star Ranger (1915,) The U. P. Trail (1918,) Call of the Canyon (1924,) and Code of the West (1934.)
Grey’s hobby of big game fishing off the coasts of Australia and New Zealand resulted in such books as Tales of Fishing (1919.) His success was due to the ‘escapist ‘ lure of his simple adventure plots and attractive, authentic settings.
University of Delaware’s Thomas H Pauly wrote Zane Grey: His Life, His Adventures, His Women, (2005.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Zane Grey
Writing was like digging coal. I sweat blood. The spell is on me.
—Zane Grey
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