Zane Grey was an American author best known for his popular adventure
novelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s and stories that presented an idealized image of the Old West.
Riders of the Purple SageRiders of the Purple Sage is Zane Grey's best-known novel, originally published in 1912. Most critics agree that it played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre.- Plot in a paragraph :...
(1912) was his bestselling book. In addition to the success of his printed works, they later had second lives and continuing influence when adapted as films and TV productions. As of 2007, 110 films, one TV episode, and a series,
Dick Powell's Zane Grey TheaterDick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, sometimes simply called Zane Grey Theatre, is an American Western anthology series which ran on CBS from 1956 to 1961.-Overview:Zane Grey Theatre was created by Luke Short and Charles A. Wallace...
, had been made that were based loosely on his
novelA novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s and
short storiesA short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
.
Early life and education
Pearl Zane Gray was born January 31, 1872, in
ZanesvilleZanesville is a city in and the county seat of Muskingum County, Ohio, United States. The population was 25,586 at the 2000 census.Zanesville was named after Ebenezer Zane, who had constructed Zane's Trace, a pioneer road through present-day Ohio...
,
OhioOhio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
. It has been suggested that his name derives from the "Pearl Grey" color favored by Queen Victoria in her dress. He was the fourth of five children born to Alice "Allie" Josephine Zane, whose English Quaker immigrant ancestor Robert Zane came to America in 1673, and her husband, Lewis M. Gray, a dentist. His family changed the spelling of their last name to "Grey" after his birth. Later Grey dropped Pearl and used Zane as his first name. He grew up in Zanesville, a city founded by his maternal ancestor
Ebenezer ZaneEbenezer Zane was an American pioneer, road builder and land speculator. Born in what is now Moorefield, West Virginia , Zane established the settlement known as Fort Henry in Wheeling, Virginia on the Ohio River...
, a
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
patriot; from an early age, the boy was intrigued by history. Grey developed interests in
fishingFishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
,
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, and writing, all which contributed to his writing success. His first three novels recounted the heroism of his ancestors who fought in the
American Revolutionary WarThe American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
.
As a child, Grey frequently engaged in violent brawls, despite (or because of) his father punishing him with severe beatings. Though irascible and antisocial like his father, Grey was supported by a loving mother and found a father substitute. Muddy Miser was an old man who approved of Grey's love of fishing and writing, and who talked about the advantages of an unconventional life. Despite warnings by Grey’s father to steer clear of Miser, the boy spent much time during five formative years in the company of the old man.
Grey was an avid reader of adventure stories (
Robinson CrusoeRobinson Crusoe is a novel by Daniel Defoe that was first published in 1719. Epistolary, confessional, and didactic in form, the book is a fictional autobiography of the title character—a castaway who spends 28 years on a remote tropical island near Trinidad, encountering cannibals, captives, and...
and
Leatherstocking TalesThe Leatherstocking Tales is a series of novels by American writer James Fenimore Cooper, each featuring the main hero Natty Bumppo, known by European settlers as "Leatherstocking," 'The Pathfinder", and "the trapper" and by the Native Americans as "Deerslayer," "La Longue Carabine" and...
) and dime novels (featuring
Buffalo BillWilliam Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a United States soldier, bison hunter and showman. He was born in the Iowa Territory , in LeClaire but lived several years in Canada before his family moved to the Kansas Territory. Buffalo Bill received the Medal of Honor in 1872 for service to the US...
and "
Deadwood DickDeadwood Dick is a fictional character who appears in a series of stories, or "dime novels", published between 1877 and 1897 by Edward Lytton Wheeler...
"). He was enthralled by and crudely copied the great illustrators
Howard PyleHoward Pyle was an American illustrator and author, primarily of books for young people. A native of Wilmington, Delaware, he spent the last year of his life in Florence, Italy.__FORCETOC__...
and
Frederic RemingtonFrederic Sackrider Remington was an American painter, illustrator, sculptor, and writer who specialized in depictions of the Old American West, specifically concentrating on the last quarter of the 19th century American West and images of cowboys, American Indians, and the U. S...
. He was particularly impressed with
Our Western Border, a history of the Ohio frontier that likely inspired his earliest novels. Zane wrote his first story,
Jim of the Cave, when he was fifteen. His father tore it to shreds and beat him. Both Zane and his brother Romer were active, athletic boys who were enthusiastic baseball players and fishermen.
Due to shame from a severe financial setback in 1889 caused by a poor investment, Lewis Grey moved his family from Zanesville and started again in
Columbus, OhioColumbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...
. While the older man struggled to re-establish his dental practice, Zane Grey made rural house calls and performed basic extractions, which his father had taught him. The younger Grey practiced until the state board intervened. His brother Romer earned money by driving a delivery wagon. Grey also worked as a part-time usher in a movie theater and played summer
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
for the Columbus Capitols, with aspirations of becoming a major leaguer. Eventually, Grey was spotted by a baseball scout and received offers from many colleges. Romer also attracted scouts' attention and went on to have a pro-baseball career.
Penn and baseball
Grey chose the
University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
on a baseball
scholarshipA scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
, where he studied
dentistryDentistry is the branch of medicine that is involved in the study, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of diseases, disorders and conditions of the oral cavity, maxillofacial area and the adjacent and associated structures and their impact on the human body. Dentistry is widely considered...
and joined
Sigma NuSigma Nu is an undergraduate, college fraternity with chapters in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. Sigma Nu was founded in 1869 by three cadets at the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, Virginia...
fraternityFraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
; he graduated in 1896. When he arrived at Penn, he had to prove himself worthy of a scholarship before receiving it. He rose to the occasion by coming in to pitch against the Riverton club, pitching five scoreless innings and producing a double in the tenth which contributed to the win. The
Ivy LeagueThe Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The conference name is also commonly used to refer to those eight schools as a group...
was highly competitive and an excellent training ground for future pro baseball players. Grey was a solid hitter and an excellent pitcher who relied on a sharply dropping curve ball. When the distance from the pitcher's mound to the plate was lengthened by ten feet in 1894 (primarily to reduce the dominance of
Cy YoungDenton True "Cy" Young was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. During his 22-year baseball career , he pitched for five different teams. Young was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937...
’s pitching), the effectiveness of Grey’s pitching suffered. He was re-positioned to the outfield. The short, wiry baseball player remained a campus hero on the strength of his timely hitting.
He was an indifferent scholar, barely achieving a minimum average. Outside class he spent his time on baseball,
poolA swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
, and creative writing, especially poetry. His shy nature and his
teetotalingTeetotalism refers to either the practice of or the promotion of complete abstinence from alcoholic beverages. A person who practices teetotalism is called a teetotaler or is simply said to be teetotal...
set him apart from other students, and he socialized little. Grey struggled with the idea of becoming a writer or baseball player for his career, but unhappily concluded that dentistry was the practical choice.
During a summer break, while playing 'summer nines' in
Delphos, OhioDelphos is a city in Allen and Van Wert Counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. It had a population of 6,944 at the 2000 census.The Allen County portion of Delphos is part of the Lima Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Van Wert County portion is part of the Van Wert Micropolitan Statistical...
, Grey was charged with, and quietly settled, a
paternityIn law, paternity is the legal acknowledgment of the parental relationship between a man and a child usually based on several factors.At common law, a child born to the wife during a marriage is the husband's child under the "presumption of legitimacy", and the husband is assigned complete rights,...
suit. His father paid the $133.40 cost and Grey resumed playing summer baseball in Delphos. He managed to conceal the episode when he returned to Penn.
Grey went on to play
minor league baseballMinor league baseball is a hierarchy of professional baseball leagues in the Americas that compete at levels below Major League Baseball and provide opportunities for player development. All of the minor leagues are operated as independent businesses...
with several teams, including the
Newark, New JerseyNewark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
Colts in 1898 and also with the Orange Athletic Club for several years. His brother,
Romer Carl "Reddy" GreyRomer Carl "Reddy" Grey was a professional baseball player. He played one game in Major League Baseball in 1903 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.- Baseball career :...
(known as "R.C." to his family) did better and played professionally in the minor leagues. He played a single major league game in 1903 for the
Pittsburgh PiratesThe Pittsburgh Pirates are a Major League Baseball club based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They play in the Central Division of the National League, and are five-time World Series Champions...
.
Dentistry
After graduating, Grey established his practice in New York City under the name of Dr. Zane Grey in 1896. It was a competitive area but he wanted to be close to publishers. He began to write in the evening to offset the tedium of his dental practice. He struggled financially and emotionally. Grey was a natural writer but his early efforts were stiff and grammatically weak. Whenever possible, he played baseball with the Orange Athletic Club in New Jersey, a team of former collegiate players that was one of the best amateur teams in the country.
Grey often went camping with his brother R.C. in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, where they fished in the upper
Delaware RiverThe Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States.A Dutch expedition led by Henry Hudson in 1609 first mapped the river. The river was christened the South River in the New Netherland colony that followed, in contrast to the North River, as the Hudson River was then...
. When canoeing in 1900, Grey met seventeen year-old Lina Roth, better known as "Dolly". Dolly came from a family of physicians and was studying to be a schoolteacher.
Marriage and family
After a passionate and intense courtship marked by frequent quarrels, Grey and Dolly married five years later in 1905. Grey suffered bouts of
depressionDepression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
, anger, and
mood swingsMood Swings is an album by Koby Israelite released in 2005 on Tzadik.- Track listing :# "Dror Ikra" - 3:03# "Return of the Idiots" - 2:19# "It Is Not a War Here" - 7:05# "Ethnometalogy" - 5:08# "Europa?" - 2:49# "Hiriya On My Mind" - 4:53...
, which affected him most of his life. As he described it, “A hyena lying in ambush—that is my black spell! I conquered one mood only to fall prey to the next...I wandered about like a lost soul or a man who was conscious of imminent death."
During his courtship of Dolly, Grey still saw previous girlfriends and warned her frankly, "But I love to be free. I cannot change my spots. The ordinary man is satisfied with a moderate income, a home, wife, children, and all that....But I am a million miles from being that kind of man and no amount of trying will ever do any good". He added, "I shall never lose the spirit of my interest in women."
After they married in 1905, Dolly gave up her teaching career. They moved to a farmhouse at the convergence of the Delaware and
LackawaxenThe Lackawaxen River is a tributary of the Delaware River in northeastern Pennsylvania in the United States. The river flows through a largely rural area in the northern Pocono Mountains, draining an area of approximately ....
rivers, in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, where Grey's mother and sister joined them. (This house, now preserved and operated as the Zane Grey Museum, is listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.) Grey finally ceased his dental practice to devote full-time to his nascent literary pursuits. Dolly’s inheritance provided an initial financial cushion.
Writing career
While Dolly managed Grey's career and raised their three children, including son
Romer Zane Grey-Family:Romer Zane Grey was the elder son of one of the most famous Western novelists of all time, the legendary Zane Grey. Romer was born October 1, 1909 at Lackawaxen, Penn. Zane and Dolly Grey had three children: Romer, Betty, and Loren...
, over the next two decades Grey often spent months away from the family. He fished, wrote and spent time with his many mistresses. While Dolly knew of his behavior, she seemed to view it as his handicap rather than a choice. Throughout their life together, he highly valued her management of his career and their family, and her solid emotional support. In addition to her considerable editorial skills, she had good business sense and handled all his contract negotiations with publishers, agents, and movie studios. All his income was split fifty-fifty with her; from her "share", she covered all family expenses. Their considerable correspondence shows evidence of his lasting love for her despite his infidelities and personal emotional turmoil.
The Greys moved to California in 1918. In 1920 they settled in
Altadena, CaliforniaAltadena is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center, and directly north of the city of Pasadena, California...
, where Grey bought a prominent
mansionThe Zane Grey Estate is a National Register of Historic Places structure in Altadena, California. It was placed on the Register in 2002 for its association with author Zane Grey....
on East Mariposa Street, known locally as "Millionaire's Row". Designed by architects
Myron HuntMyron Hunt was an American architect whose numerous projects include many noted landmarks in Southern California...
and
Elmer GreyElmer Grey, FAIA was an American architect and artist based in Pasadena, California. Grey designed many noted landmarks in Southern California, including the Beverly Hills Hotel, the Huntington Art Gallery, the Pasadena Playhouse and Wattles Mansion...
(no relation to the author), the 1907 Mediterranean-style house is acclaimed as the first fireproof home in Altadena, built entirely of reinforced
concreteConcrete is a composite construction material, composed of cement and other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water and chemical admixtures.The word concrete comes from the Latin word...
as prescribed by the first owner's wife. Grey summed up his feelings for the city: "In Altadena, I have found those qualities that make life worth living." (The city uses it in promotions.)
It was in Altadena that he spent time with his mistress Brenda Montenegro. The two met while hiking Eaton Canyon. Of her he wrote, "I saw her flowing raven mane against the rocks of the canyon. I have seen the red skin of the
NavajoThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
, and the olive of the Spaniards, but her...her skin looked as if her Creator had in that instant molded her just for me. I thought it was an apparition. She seemed to be the embodiment of the West I portray in my books, open and wild."
With the help of Dolly’s proofreading and copy editing, Grey gradually improved his writing. His first magazine article, "A Day on the Delaware", a human-interest story about a Grey brothers’ fishing expedition, was published in the May 1902 issue of
Recreation magazine. Elated by selling the article, Grey offered reprints to patients in his waiting room. In writing, Grey found temporary escape from the harshness of his life and his demons. “Realism is death to me. I cannot stand life as it is.” By this time, he had given up baseball.
Grey read
Owen WisterOwen Wister was an American writer and "father" of western fiction.-Early life:Owen Wister was born on July 14, 1860, in Germantown, a well-known neighborhood in the northwestern part of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His father, Owen Jones Wister, was a wealthy physician, one of a long line of...
’s great Western novel
The VirginianThis page is about the novel, for other uses see The Virginian .The Virginian is a pioneering 1902 novel set in the Wild West by the American author Owen Wister...
. After studying its style and structure in detail, he decided to write a full-length story. Grey had difficulties in writing his first novel,
Betty Zane (1903). When it was rejected by Harper & Brothers, he lapsed into despair. The novel dramatized the heroism of an ancestor who had saved Fort Henry. He self-published it, perhaps with funds provided by his wife Dolly or his brother R. C.'s wealthy girlfriend Reba Smith. From the beginning, vivid description was the strongest aspect of his writing.
After attending a lecture in New York in 1907 by
Charles Jesse "Buffalo" JonesCharles Jesse Jones, known as Buffalo Jones , was an American frontiersman, farmer, rancher, hunter, and conservationist who cofounded Garden City, Kansas...
, western hunter and guide who had co-founded
Garden City, KansasGarden City is a city in and the county seat of Finney County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 26,658. The city is home to Garden City Community College and the Lee Richardson Zoo, the largest zoological park in western Kansas.-History:In February 1878, James...
, Grey arranged for a mountain lion-hunting trip to the North Rim of the
Grand CanyonThe Grand Canyon is a steep-sided canyon carved by the Colorado River in the United States in the state of Arizona. It is largely contained within the Grand Canyon National Park, the 15th national park in the United States...
. He brought along a camera to document his trips and prove his adventures. He also began the habit of taking copious notes, not only of scenery and activities but of dialogue. His first two trips were arduous, but Grey learned much from his compatriot adventurers. He gained the confidence to write convincingly about the American West, its characters, and its landscape. Treacherous river crossings, unpredictable beasts, bone-chilling cold, searing heat, parching thirst, bad water, irascible tempers, and heroic cooperation all became real to him. He wrote, “Surely, of all the gifts that have come to me from contact with the West, this one of sheer love of wildness, beauty, color, grandeur, has been the greatest, the most significant for my work.”
Upon returning home in 1909, Grey converted his experiences into a new book,
The Last of the Plainsmen, describing the adventures of Buffalo Jones. Harper’s editor
Ripley HitchcockRipley Hitchcock, born James Ripley Wellman Hitchcock, was a prominent American editor. He edited the works of Rudyard Kipling, Arthur Conan Doyle, Zane Grey, Joel Chandler Harris, Stephen Crane and Theodore Dreiser.-Biography:...
rejected it, the fourth work in a row. He told Grey, “I do not see anything in this to convince me you can write either narrative or fiction.” Grey wrote dejectedly, "I don’t know which way to turn. I cannot decide what to write next. That which I desire to write does not seem to be what the editors want...I am full of stories and zeal and fire...yet I am inhibited by doubt, by fear that my feeling for life is false". The book was later published by
OutingOuting is the act of disclosing a gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender person's true sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. Outing gives rise to issues of privacy, choice, hypocrisy, and harm in addition to sparking debate on what constitutes common good in efforts...
magazine, which provided Grey some satisfaction. Grey next wrote a series of magazine articles and juvenile novels.
With the birth of his first child pending, Grey felt compelled to complete his next novel and his first Western,
The Heritage of the Desert. He wrote it in four months in 1910. It quickly became a bestseller. Grey took his next work to Hitchcock again; this time Harper published his work, an historical romance in which
MormonThe term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...
characters were of central importance. Grey continued to write popular novels about
Manifest DestinyManifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...
, the conquest of the Old West, and the behavior of men in elemental conditions.
Two years later Grey produced his best-known book,
Riders of the Purple SageRiders of the Purple Sage is Zane Grey's best-known novel, originally published in 1912. Most critics agree that it played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre.- Plot in a paragraph :...
(1912), his all-time best-seller, and one of the most successful Western novels of all. Hitchcock rejected it, but Grey took his manuscript directly to the vice president of Harper, who accepted it. As Zane Grey had become a household name, after that, Harper eagerly received all his manuscripts. Other publishers caught on to the commercial potential of the Western novel. Max Brand and Ernest Haycox were among the most notable of other authors of Westerns. Grey's publishers paired his novels with some of the best illustrators of the time, including
N. C. WyethNewell Convers Wyeth , known as N.C. Wyeth, was an American artist and illustrator. He was the pupil of artist Howard Pyle and became one of America's greatest illustrators...
,
Frank SchoonoverFrank Earle Schoonover was an American illustrator. Born in Oxford, New Jersey, he studied under Howard Pyle at the Drexel Institute in Philadelphia and became part of what would be known as the Brandywine School...
, Douglas Duer, Herbert W. Dunton, W. H. D. Koerner, and
Charles RussellCharles Marion Russell , also known as C. M. Russell, Charlie Russell, and "Kid" Russell, was an artist of the Old American West. Russell created more than 2,000 paintings of cowboys, Indians, and landscapes set in the Western United States, in addition to bronze sculptures...
.
Grey had the time and money to engage in his first and greatest passion: fishing. From 1918 until 1932, he was a regular contributor to
Outdoor LifeOutdoor Life is an outdoors magazine about hunting, fishing, survival and camping. It is a sister magazine of Field & Stream. Together with Sports Afield, they are considered the Big Three of American outdoor publishing. Outdoor Life launched in Denver, Colorado in January 1898. Founder and...
magazine. As one of its first celebrity writers, he began to popularize big-game
fishingFishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
. Several times he went deep-sea fishing in Florida to relax and to write in solitude. Although he commented that, “the sea, from which all life springs, has been equally with the desert my teacher and religion,” Grey was unable to write a great sea novel. He felt the sea soothed his moods, reduced his depressions, and gained him the opportunity to harvest deeper thoughts:
“The lure of the sea is some strange magic that makes men love what they fear. The solitude of the desert is more intimate than that of the sea. Death on the shifting barren sands seems less insupportable to the imagination than death out on the boundless ocean, in the awful, windy emptiness. Man’s bones yearn for dust.”
Over the years, Grey spent part of his time traveling and the rest of the year wrote from the base of his adventures. Unlike writers who could write every day, Grey would have dry spells and then sudden bursts of energy, in which he could write as much as 100,000 words in a month. He encountered fans in most places. He kept a cabin on the
Rogue RiverThe Rogue River in southwestern Oregon in the United States flows about in a generally westward direction from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean. Known for its salmon runs, whitewater rafting, and rugged scenery, it was one of the original eight rivers named in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act...
in
OregonOregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. Other excursions took him to Washington state and
WyomingWyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
.
From 1923 to 1930, he spent a few weeks a year at his cabin on the
Mogollon RimThe Mogollon Rim is a topographical and geological feature running across the U.S. state of Arizona. It extends approximately from northern Yavapai County eastward to near the border with New Mexico.-Description:...
, in Central
ArizonaArizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. After years of abandonment and decay, the cabin was restored in 1966 by Bill Goettl, a Phoenix air conditioning magnate, and was opened to the public as a free-of-charge museum. The Dude Fire destroyed the cabin in 1990. It was later reconstructed 25 miles away in the town of
Payson- History :Payson considers its founding year as 1882, at which time it was known as Green Valley or Union Park. On March 3, 1884, the town officially established a post office. Postmaster Frank C. Hise recommended that the town be named after a man named Levi Joseph Payson. Senator Payson was very...
.
During the 1930s, Grey continued to write, but the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
hurt the publishing industry. His sales fell off and he found it more difficult to sell serializations. Having avoided the stock market crash, he continued to earn royalty income. In the 1930s, nearly half of the film adaptations of his novels were made.
From 1925 to his death in 1939, Grey traveled more and further from his family. He became interested in exploring unspoiled lands, particularly the islands of South Pacific, New Zealand and Australia. He thought Arizona was beginning to be overrun by tourists and speculators. Near the end of his life, Grey looked into the future and wrote:
“The so-called civilization of man and his works shall perish from the earth, while the shifting sands, the red looming walls, the purple sage, and the towering monuments, the cast brooding range show no perceptible change.”
Controversy and critics
The more books Grey sold, the more the established critics, such as
Heywood BrounHeywood Campbell Broun, Jr. was an American journalist. He worked as a sportswriter, newspaper columnist, and editor in New York City. He founded the American Newspaper Guild, now known as The Newspaper Guild. Born in Brooklyn, New York, he is best remembered for his writing on social issues and...
and Burton Rascoe, attacked him. They claimed his depictions of the West were too fanciful, too violent, and not faithful to the moral realities of the frontier. They thought his characters unrealistic and much larger-than-life. Broun stated that “the substance of any two Zane Grey books could be written upon the back of a postage stamp.” T. K. Whipple praised a typical Grey novel as a modern version of the ancient
BeowulfBeowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
saga, “a battle of passions with one another and with the will, a struggle of love and hate, or remorse and revenge, of blood, lust, honor, friendship, anger, grief—all of a grand scale and all incalculable and mysterious.” But he goes on to criticize Grey’s writing, “His style, for example, has the stiffness which comes from an imperfect mastery of the medium. It lacks fluency and facility.” In truth, as far as veracity was concerned, Grey relied on first-hand experience, careful note-taking, and considerable research. Despite his great popular success and fortune, Grey read the reviews and sometimes became paralyzed by negative emotions after critical ones.
In 1923 a reviewer called Grey’s “moral ideas...decidedly askew”. Grey reacted with a 20-page treatise “My Answer to the Critics”. He defended his intentions to produce great literature in the setting of the Old West. He suggested that critics should ask his readers what they think of his books, and noted actor and fan
John BarrymoreJohn Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
as an example. Dolly warned him against publishing the treatise, and he retreated from a public confrontation.
His novel
The Vanishing American (1925), first serialized in
The Ladies’ Home Journal in 1922, started a heated debate. People recognized its Navajo hero as patterned after the great athlete
Jim ThorpeJacobus Franciscus "Jim" Thorpe * Gerasimo and Whiteley. pg. 28 * americaslibrary.gov, accessed April 23, 2007. was an American athlete of mixed ancestry...
. Grey portrayed the struggle of the
NavajoThe Navajo of the Southwestern United States are the largest single federally recognized tribe of the United States of America. The Navajo Nation has 300,048 enrolled tribal members. The Navajo Nation constitutes an independent governmental body which manages the Navajo Indian reservation in the...
to preserve their identity and culture against corrupting influences of the white government and of missionaries. This viewpoint enraged religious groups. Grey contended, “I have studied the Navaho Indians for twelve years. I know their wrongs. The missionaries sent out there are almost everyone mean, vicious, weak, immoral, useless men.” To have the book published, Grey agreed to some structural changes. With this book, Grey completed the most productive period of his writing career, having laid out most major themes, character types, and settings.
As with many writers, Grey produced his best work early in his career. Later he repeated himself. His fans were perfectly happy with the results, however, and each new book was eagerly anticipated, even after his death.
His
Wanderer of the Wasteland is his thinly disguised autobiography. One of his books, “Tales of the Angler’s El Dorado, New Zealand”, helped establish the
Bay of IslandsThe Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
in New Zealand as a premier game fishing area. Several of his later writings were based in Australia.
Literary works and legacy
Grey became one of the first millionaire authors. With his veracity and emotional intensity, he connected with millions of readers worldwide, during peacetime and war, and inspired many Western writers who followed him. Zane Grey was a major force in shaping the myths of the Old West; his books and stories were adapted into other media, such as film and TV productions. He was the author of more than 90 books, some published posthumously and/or based on
serialIn literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
s originally published in magazines. His total book sales exceed 40 million.
Grey wrote not only Westerns, but two hunting books, six children’s books, two baseball books, and eight fishing books. Many of them became bestsellers. It is estimated that he wrote over nine million words in his career. From 1917–1926, Grey was in the top ten best-seller list nine times, which required sales of over 100,000 copies each time. Even after his death, Harper had a stockpile of his manuscripts and continued to publish a new title each year until 1963. During the 1940s and afterward, as Grey's books were reprinted as paperbacks, his sales exploded.
Erle Stanley GardnerErle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories, best known for the Perry Mason series, he also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J...
, prolific author of mystery novels and the
Perry MasonPerry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
series, said of Grey, he:
“had the knack of tying his characters into the land, and the land into the story. There were other Western writers who had fast and furious action, but Zane Grey was the one who could make the action not only convincing but inevitable, and somehow you got the impression that the bigness of the country generated a bigness of character.”
Hollywood and other media
Grey started his association with Hollywood when
William FoxWilliam Fox born Fried Vilmos was a pioneering Hungarian American motion picture executive who founded the Fox Film Corporation in 1915 and the Fox West Coast Theatres chain in the 1920s...
bought the rights to
Riders of the Purple SageRiders of the Purple Sage is Zane Grey's best-known novel, originally published in 1912. Most critics agree that it played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre.- Plot in a paragraph :...
for $2,500 in 1916. The ascending arc of Grey’s career matched that of the motion picture industry. It eagerly adapted
WesternWestern fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
stories to the screen practically from its inception, with Bronco Billy Anderson becoming the first major western star. Legendary director
John FordJohn Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
was then a young stage hand and
William S. HartWilliam Surrey Hart was an American silent film actor, screenwriter, director and producer. He is remembered for having "imbued all of his characters with honor and integrity."-Biography:...
, who had been a real cowhand, was defining the persona of the film cowboy. The Grey family moved to California to be closer to the film industry and to enable Grey to fish in the Pacific.
After his first two books were adapted to the screen, Grey formed his own
motion pictureA film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
company. This allowed him to control production values and faithfulness to his books. After seven films he sold his company to Jesse Lasky, who was a partner of the founder of
Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
. Paramount made a number of movies based on Grey's writings and hired him as advisor. Many of his films were shot at locations described in his books.
Grey became disenchanted by the commercial exploitation and pirating of his works. He felt his stories and characters were diluted by being adapted to film. Nearly fifty of his novels were converted into over one hundred Western movies, the most by any Western author. Shortly after Grey's death, the success of Fritz Lang's
Western UnionWestern Union is a 1941 western feature film directed by Fritz Lang. Filmed in Technicolor on location in Arizona and Utah, Western Union tells the story of a reformed outlaw named Vance Shaw who tries to make good by joining the team wiring the Great Plains for telegraph service in 1861...
(1941), a film based on one of his books, helped bring about a resurgence in Hollywood westerns. Its costars were
Randolph ScottRandolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
and
Robert YoungRobert George Young was an American television, film, and radio actor, best known for his leading roles as Jim Anderson, the father of Father Knows Best and as physician Marcus Welby in Marcus Welby, M.D. .-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Young was the son of an Irish immigrant father...
. The period of the 1940s and 1950s included the great works of
John FordJohn Ford was an American film director. He was famous for both his westerns such as Stagecoach, The Searchers, and The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, and adaptations of such classic 20th-century American novels as The Grapes of Wrath...
, who successfully used the settings of Grey’s novels in Arizona and Utah.
The success of Grey's
The Lone Star RangerThe Lone Star Ranger is a Western novel by Zane Grey. It follows the life of Buck Duane, a man who becomes an outlaw and then redeems himself in the eyes of the law.-Explanation of the novel's title:...
(a novel later turned into a 1930 film) and
King of the Royal MountedKing of the Royal Mounted is a fictional series featuring the character Dave King, created by Stephen Slesinger in 1936. Slesinger licensed popular Western writer Zane Grey's byline and marketed the character as Zane Grey's King of the Royal Mounted....
(popular as a series of
Big Little BooksThe Big Little Books, first published during 1932 by the Whitman Publishing Company of Racine, Wisconsin, were small, compact books designed with a captioned illustration opposite each page of text...
and comics, later turned into a 1936 film), inspired two radio series by George Trendle (WXYZ, Detroit). Later these were adapted again for television, forming the series
The Lone RangerThe Lone Ranger is a fictional masked Texas Ranger who, with his Native American companion Tonto, fights injustice in the American Old West. The character has become an enduring icon of American culture....
and
Challenge of the YukonChallenge of the Yukon was a radio series that began on Detroit's station WXYZ , and an example of a Northern genre story. The series was first heard on February 3, 1938...
(
Sgt. Preston of the Yukon on TV). More of Grey's work was featured in adapted form on the
Zane Grey Show, which ran on the
Mutual Broadcasting SystemThe Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
for five months in the 1940s, and the “Zane Grey Western Theatre”, which had a five-year run of 145 episodes.
Many famous actors got their start in films based on Zane Grey books. They included
Gary CooperFrank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
,
Randolph ScottRandolph Scott was an American film actor whose career spanned from 1928 to 1962. As a leading man for all but the first three years of his cinematic career, Scott appeared in a variety of genres, including social dramas, crime dramas, comedies, musicals , adventure tales, war films, and even a few...
,
William PowellWilliam Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
,
Wallace BeeryWallace Fitzgerald Beery was an American actor. He is best known for his portrayal of Bill in Min and Bill opposite Marie Dressler, as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, as Pancho Villa in Viva Villa!, and his titular role in The Champ, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor...
,
Richard Arlen-Biography:Born Sylvanus Richard Van Mattimore in St. Paul, Minnesota, he attended the University of Pennsylvania. He served as a pilot in the Royal Flying Corps during World War I. His first job after the war was with St. Paul's Athletic Club...
,
Buster CrabbeClarence Linden "Buster" Crabbe was an American athlete and actor, who starred in a number of popular serials in the 1930s and 1940s.-Birth:...
,
Shirley TempleShirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
, and
Fay WrayFay Wray was a Canadian-American actress most noted for playing the female lead in King Kong...
.
Victor FlemingVictor Lonzo Fleming was an American film director, cinematographer, and producer. His most popular films were The Wizard of Oz , and Gone with the Wind , for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director.-Life and career:Fleming was born in La Canada, California, the son of Elizabeth Evaleen ...
, later director of
Gone with the WindThe slaves depicted in Gone with the Wind are primarily loyal house servants, such as Mammy, Pork and Uncle Peter, and these slaves stay on with their masters even after the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 sets them free...
, and
Henry HathawayHenry Hathaway was an American film director and producer. He is best known as a director of Westerns, especially starring John Wayne.-Background:...
, who later directed
True Grit, both learned their craft on Grey films.
Fishing
Grey's son Loren claims in the introduction to
Tales of Tahitian WatersTales of Tahitian Waters is a fishing story, or a collection of fishing stories, written by Zane Grey, and first published in 1931 by the Derrydale Press, a publisher most famous for stories of the outdoors, particularly hunting and fishing...
that Zane Grey fished on average 300 days a year through his adult life. Grey and his brother R.C. were frequent visitors to
Long KeyLong Key is an island in the middle Florida Keys.U.S. 1 crosses the key at approximately mile markers 65.5--71, between Fiesta Key and Conch Key....
,
FloridaFlorida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, where they helped to establish the Long Key Fishing Club, built by
Henry Morrison FlaglerHenry Morrison Flagler was an American tycoon, real estate promoter, railroad developer and partner of John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil. He was a key figure in the development of the eastern coast of Florida along the Atlantic Ocean and was founder of what became the Florida East Coast Railway...
and was its president from 1917 to 1920. He pioneered the fishing of Boohoo fish (
sailfish'Sailfish' are two species of fish in the genus Istiophorus, living in warmer sections of all the oceans of the world. They are predominately blue to gray in color and have a characteristic erectile dorsal fin known as a sail, which often stretches the entire length of the back...
), and there is a Zane Grey Creek there
http://www.keyshistory.org/longkey.html.
Grey indulged his interest in fishing with visits to
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. He first visited New Zealand in 1926 and caught several large fish of great variety, including a mako shark, a ferocious fighter which presented a new challenge. Grey established a base at Otehei Bay Lodge on
Urupukapuka IslandUrupukapuka Island is an island in the Bay of Islands of New Zealand, located about 7.3 km from Paihia.-History:Urupukapuka Island was previously settled by the Ngare Raumati tribe, one of the oldest tribes of the area...
in the
Bay of IslandsThe Bay of Islands is an area in the Northland Region of the North Island of New Zealand. Located 60 km north-west of Whangarei, it is close to the northern tip of the country....
, which became a magnet for the rich and famous and wrote many articles in international sporting magazines highlighting the uniqueness of New Zealand fishing which has produced heavy-tackle world records for the major
billfishThe term billfish is applied to a number of different large, predatory fish characterised by their large size and their long, sword-like bill. Billfish include the sailfish and marlin, which make up the family Istiophoridae, and the swordfish, sole member of the family Xiphiidae...
, striped
marlinMarlin, family Istiophoridae, are fish with an elongated body, a spear-like snout or bill, and a long rigid dorsal fin, which extends forward to form a crest. Its common name is thought to derive from its resemblance to a sailor's marlinspike...
, black marlin, blue marlin and broadbill. He held
numerous world records during this time and invented the teaser, a hookless bait that is still used today to attract fish. Grey made three further fishing trips to New Zealand. The second was January to April 1927, the third December 1928 to March 1929, and the last December 1932 to February 1933. All these trips are recorded in books by Grey himself, or his son,
Romer Zane Grey-Family:Romer Zane Grey was the elder son of one of the most famous Western novelists of all time, the legendary Zane Grey. Romer was born October 1, 1909 at Lackawaxen, Penn. Zane and Dolly Grey had three children: Romer, Betty, and Loren...
, or by his brother
Reddy GreyRomer Carl "Reddy" Grey was a professional baseball player. He played one game in Major League Baseball in 1903 for the Pittsburgh Pirates.- Baseball career :...
.
Grey fished out of Wedgeport, Nova Scotia, for many summers and set a world record for the largest blue-fin tuna on August 24, 1924 when he caught one weighing 758 pounds.
Grey also helped establish deep-sea sport fishing in
New South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, Australia, particularly in
Bermagui, New South WalesBermagui is a town on the south coast of New South Wales, Australia in the Bega Valley Shire. The name is derived from the Dyirringanj word, permageua, possibly meaning 'canoe with paddles'....
, which is famous for Marlin fishing. Patron of the Bermagui Sport Fishing Association for 1936 and 1937, Grey set a number of world records, and wrote of his experiences in his book "An American Angler in Australia".
From 1928 on, Grey was a frequent visitor to
TahitiTahiti is the largest island in the Windward group of French Polynesia, located in the archipelago of the Society Islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. It is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia. The island was formed from volcanic activity and is high and mountainous...
. He fished the surrounding waters several months at a time and maintained a permanent fishing camp at
VairaoVairao, also Port Vairaoand Matiti, is a small port town and district on the southwest coast of Tahiti, just to the northwest of Teahupo'o....
. He claimed that these were the most difficult waters he had ever fished, but from these waters he also took some of his most important records, such as the first marlin over 1,000 pounds.
Catalina Island
Grey had built a getaway home in
Santa Catalina Island, CaliforniaSanta Catalina Island, often called Catalina Island, or just Catalina, is a rocky island off the coast of the U.S. state of California. The island is long and across at its greatest width. The island is located about south-southwest of Los Angeles, California. The highest point on the island is...
, which now serves as the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel. Avid fisherman as he was, he served as president of the Catalina's exclusive fishing club, the
Tuna Club.
Death
Zane Grey died of heart failure on October 23, 1939, at his home in
AltadenaAltadena is an unincorporated area and census-designated place in Los Angeles County, California, United States, approximately from the downtown Los Angeles Civic Center, and directly north of the city of Pasadena, California...
, California. He was interred at the Union Cemetery in Lackawaxen,
PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
.
Legacy and honors
- The National Park Service
The National Park Service is the U.S. federal agency that manages all national parks, many national monuments, and other conservation and historical properties with various title designations...
maintains his former home in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania as the Zane Grey MuseumThe Zane Grey Museum in Lackawaxen Township, Pennsylvania, United States, is a former residence of the author Zane Grey and is now maintained as a museum and operated by the National Park Service . It is located on the upper Delaware River and is on the National Register of Historic Places...
, a part of the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational RiverThe Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River is located near Narrowsburg, New York, and Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania, on the Delaware River. It includes parts of five counties along this section of the river: Delaware, Orange, and Sullivan in New York, and Pike and Wayne in Pennsylvania.The site...
area.
- His home in Altadena
The Zane Grey Estate is a National Register of Historic Places structure in Altadena, California. It was placed on the Register in 2002 for its association with author Zane Grey....
is listed in the National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
.
- Zanesville, Ohio has a museum named in his honor, the National Road-Zane Grey Museum.
- Zane Grey Terrace, a small residential street in the hillsides of Altadena, is named in his honor.
- The Zane Grey Tourist Park Bermagui, Australia.
- "Zane Greys'" a headland at the western end of Matapaua Bay, New Zealand.
- The Zane Grey Continuation School located in adjacent to Reseda High School
Reseda High School, established in 1955, is located in the Reseda section of the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.The school currently is home to the Reseda High School Science Magnet HS and the Reseda Police Academy Magnet HS, in addition to Reseda High's four small learning...
in Reseda, Los Angeles, CA
Published in Grey's lifetime
| Year |
Title |
Genre and notes |
| 1903 |
Betty Zane Elizabeth "Betty" Zane McLaughlin Clark was a heroine of the Revolutionary War on the American frontier. She was the daughter of William Andrew Zane and Nancy Ann Zane, and the sister of Ebenezer Zane, Silas Zane, Jonathan Zane, Isaac Zane and Andrew Zane...
|
Ohio Valley |
| 1906 |
Spirit of the Border Spirit of the Border is a historical novel published in 1906 by Zane Grey. The novel is based on events occurring in the Ohio River Valley in the late 18th century. It features the exploits of Lew Wetzel, a historical personage who had dedicated his life to the destruction of Native Americans and...
|
Ohio Valley; Sequel to Betty Zane |
| 1908 |
The Last of the Plainsmen |
Western; Inspired by Charles "Buffalo" Jones |
| 1909 |
The Last Trail |
Western; Sequel to Spirit of the Border |
| The ShortStop |
BaseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
|
| 1910 |
The Heritage of the Desert |
Western |
| The Young Forester |
Western |
| 1911 |
The Young Pitcher |
Baseball |
| The Young Lion Hunter |
Western |
| 1912 |
Riders of the Purple SageRiders of the Purple Sage is Zane Grey's best-known novel, originally published in 1912. Most critics agree that it played a significant role in shaping the formula of the popular Western genre.- Plot in a paragraph :...
|
Western |
| Ken Ward in the Jungle |
Western |
| 1913 |
Desert Gold |
Western |
| 1914 |
The Light of Western Stars |
Western |
| 1915 |
The Lone Star Ranger The Lone Star Ranger is a Western novel by Zane Grey. It follows the life of Buck Duane, a man who becomes an outlaw and then redeems himself in the eyes of the law.-Explanation of the novel's title:...
|
Western; abridged version of Last of the Duanes (1996) |
| The Rainbow Trail The Rainbow Trail, also known as The Desert Crucible is the sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage by Western writer Zane Grey. Originally published under the title The Rainbow Trail in 1915, it was re-edited and rereleased in recent years as The Desert Crucible, restoring the original manuscript...
|
Western; Sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage |
| 1916 |
The Border Legion The Border Legion is a 1916 western novel by Zane Grey.It tells the story of a cold hearted man named Jack Kells who falls in love with Miss Joan Randle, a girl his legion has taken captive near the Idaho border....
|
Western |
| 1917 |
Wildfire |
Western |
| 1918 |
The UP Trail |
Western |
| 1919 |
The Desert of Wheat |
Western |
| Tales of Fishes |
Non-Fiction / FishingFishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
|
| 1920 |
The Man of the Forest |
Western |
| The Redheaded Outfield and other Baseball Stories |
Baseball |
| 1921 |
The Mysterious Rider |
Western |
To the Last ManTo the Last Man: A Story of the Pleasant Valley War is a western novel written by Zane Grey.-Origin:To The Last Man is a shorter version of Tonto Basin. Grey submitted the manscript of Tonto Basin to the magazine The Country Gentleman, which published it in serialization as To the Last Man from May...
|
abridged version of Tonto BasinFor the geographical place see Tonto BasinTonto Basin is a western novel written by Zane Grey.-Origin:Tonto Basin is the original version of the shorter novel To The Last Man . Grey submitted the manscript of Tonto Basin to the magazine The Country Gentleman, which published it in serialization as...
(2004) |
| 1922 |
The Day of the Beast |
Post-WWI novel |
| Tales of Lonely Trails |
Adventure, non-fiction |
| 1923 |
Wanderer of the Wasteland |
Western |
| Tappan's Burro |
Western |
| 1924 |
Call of the Canyon |
Western |
| Roping Lions in the Grand Canyon |
Adventure, non-fiction |
| Tales of Southern Rivers |
Non-fiction - fishing |
| 1925 |
The Thundering Herd |
Western |
| The Vanishing American |
Western |
| Tales of Fishing Virgin Seas |
Non-Fiction/Fishing |
| 1926 |
Under the Tonto Rim Under the Tonto Rim is a 1933 film directed by Henry Hathaway. It stars Stuart Erwin and Sally Blane. the film is inspired by the Zane Grey book of the same name...
|
Western |
| Tales of the Angler's Eldorado, New Zealand |
Non-Fiction/Fishing |
| 1927 |
Forlorn River Forlorn River is a 1927 western novel by Zane Grey.-Plot introduction:Ben Ide spends his time chasing wild horses in Northern California, accompanied by the wanderer, Nevada and his Indian companion, Modoc. Rather than catching horses, he has earned the reputation of being a cattle rustler. But...
|
Western |
| Tales of Swordfish and Tuna |
Non-Fiction/Fishing |
| 1928 |
Nevada Nevada is a 1928 western novel by Zane Grey. It is a sequel to 1927's Forlorn River.-Plot introduction:Ben Ide, restless with the rancher life, moves his family to Arizona, ostensibly for his mother's health, but also to search for his missing partner Nevada. He buys a beautiful ranch, in a...
|
Western; Sequel to Forlorn River |
| Wild Horse Mesa |
Western |
| Don, the Story of a Lion Dog |
Western |
| Tales of Fresh Water Fishing |
Non-Fiction / Fishing |
| 1929 |
Fighting CaravansFighting Caravans is a lavish 1931 western film starring Gary Cooper and Lili Damita. The movie was directed by Otto Brower and David Burton. Although the film is billed as being based on the novel of the same name by Zane Grey, the stories have little in common. The film was actually written by...
|
Western |
| Stairs of Sand Stairs of Sand is a 1929 silent film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Otto Brower, and written by Agnes Brand Leahy, Sam Mintz and J...
|
Western |
| 1930 |
The Wolf Tracker |
Western |
| The Shepherd of Guadaloupe |
Western |
| 1931 |
Sunset Pass Sunset Pass is a 1933 film directed by Henry Hathaway. It stars Randolph Scott and Tom Keene. -Cast:*Randolph Scott as Ash Preshton*Tom Keene as Jack Rock / Jim Collins*Kathleen Burke as Jane Preston*Harry Carey as John Hesbitt...
|
Western |
| Tales of Tahitian Waters Tales of Tahitian Waters is a fishing story, or a collection of fishing stories, written by Zane Grey, and first published in 1931 by the Derrydale Press, a publisher most famous for stories of the outdoors, particularly hunting and fishing...
|
Non-Fiction fishing |
| Book of Camps and Trails |
Non-Fiction Partial re-print of "Tales of Lonley Trails" |
| 1932 |
Arizona Ames |
Western |
| Robbers' Roost |
Western |
| 1933 |
The Drift Fence |
Western |
| The Hash Knife Outfit |
Western; Sequel to The Drift Fence |
| 1934 |
The Code of the West |
Western |
| 1935 |
Thunder Mountain |
Western |
| The Trail Driver |
Western |
| 1936 |
The Lost Wagon Train |
Western |
| 1937 |
West of the Pecos |
Western |
| An American Angler in Australia |
Fishing; Non-fiction |
| 1938 |
Raiders of Spanish Peaks |
Western |
| 1939 |
Western Union |
Western |
| Knights of the Range |
Western |
Published posthumously
| Year |
Title |
Genre and notes |
| 1940 |
Thirty thousand on the Hoof |
Western |
| Twin Sombreros |
Western: Sequel to Knights of the Range |
| 1942 |
Majesty’s Rancho |
Western; Sequel to Light of Western Stars |
| 1943 |
Omnibus |
Western |
| Stairs of Sand Stairs of Sand is a 1929 silent film made by Paramount Pictures, directed by Otto Brower, and written by Agnes Brand Leahy, Sam Mintz and J...
|
Western—Sequel to Wanderer of the Wasteland |
| 1944 |
The Wilderness Trek |
Western |
| 1946 |
Shadow on the Trail |
Western |
| 1947 |
Valley of Wild Horses |
Western |
| 1948 |
Rogue River Feud |
Western |
| 1949 |
The Deer Stalker |
Western |
| 1950 |
The Maverick Queen |
Western |
| 1951 |
The Dude Ranger |
Western |
| 1952 |
Captives of the Desert |
Western |
| Adventures in Fishing |
|
| 1953 |
Wyoming |
Western |
| 1954 |
Lost Pueblo |
Western |
| 1955 |
Black Mesa |
Western |
| 1956 |
Stranger from the Tonto |
Western |
| 1957 |
The Fugitive Trail |
Western |
| 1958 |
Arizona Clan |
Western |
| 1959 |
Horse Heaven Hill |
Western |
| 1960 |
The Ranger and other Stories |
|
| 1961 |
Blue Feather and other Stories |
|
| 1963 |
Boulder Dam |
|
| 1974 |
The Adventures of Finspot |
|
| 1975 |
Zane Grey's Greatest Indian Stories |
includes original ending to The Vanishing American (1925) |
|
| 1977 |
The Reef Girl |
|
| 1978 |
Tales from a Fisherman’s Log |
|
| 1979 |
The Camp Robber and other Stories |
|
| 1981 |
The Lord of Lackawaxen Creek |
|
| 1982 |
Angler's Eldorado Zane Grey in New Zealand |
Partial Reprint of 1926 edition (1st 10 Chapters, plus additioinal items. |
| 1994 |
George Washington, Frontiersman |
Historical Fiction |
| 1996 |
Last of the Duanes |
western; unabridged version of The Lone Star Ranger The Lone Star Ranger is a Western novel by Zane Grey. It follows the life of Buck Duane, a man who becomes an outlaw and then redeems himself in the eyes of the law.-Explanation of the novel's title:...
(1915) |
| 2003 |
The Desert Crucible |
western; unabridged version of The Rainbow Trail The Rainbow Trail, also known as The Desert Crucible is the sequel to Riders of the Purple Sage by Western writer Zane Grey. Originally published under the title The Rainbow Trail in 1915, it was re-edited and rereleased in recent years as The Desert Crucible, restoring the original manuscript...
(1915) |
| 2004 |
Tonto BasinFor the geographical place see Tonto BasinTonto Basin is a western novel written by Zane Grey.-Origin:Tonto Basin is the original version of the shorter novel To The Last Man . Grey submitted the manscript of Tonto Basin to the magazine The Country Gentleman, which published it in serialization as...
|
western; unabridged version of To the Last ManTo the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War is a historical novel written by Jeff Shaara about the experience of a number of combatants in World War I. The book became a national best seller and received praise from people such as General Tommy Franks.The novel is based on the arrival of...
(1921) |
| 2007 |
Shower of Gold |
western; unabridged version of Desert Gold (1915) |
| 2007 |
The Zane Grey Frontier Trilogy |
includes Betty Zane Elizabeth "Betty" Zane McLaughlin Clark was a heroine of the Revolutionary War on the American frontier. She was the daughter of William Andrew Zane and Nancy Ann Zane, and the sister of Ebenezer Zane, Silas Zane, Jonathan Zane, Isaac Zane and Andrew Zane...
, The Last Trail, and The Spirit of the Border |
| 2008 |
Western Legends |
includes To the Last ManTo the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War is a historical novel written by Jeff Shaara about the experience of a number of combatants in World War I. The book became a national best seller and received praise from people such as General Tommy Franks.The novel is based on the arrival of...
, The Mysterious Rider, and The Lone Star RangerThe Lone Star Ranger is a Western novel by Zane Grey. It follows the life of Buck Duane, a man who becomes an outlaw and then redeems himself in the eyes of the law.-Explanation of the novel's title:...
|
| 2008 |
The Great Trek |
Full length version of the cut down 1944 edition of "The Wilderness Trek" |
| 2009 |
Tales Of The Gladiator |
|
All western works were translated from English into Spanish by Editorial Juventud in 1959 for CLASICOS Y MODERNOS collection.
Film and television
- Desert Gold (1919)
- Wanderer of the Wasteland (1924)
- Heritage of the Desert
__notoc__Heritage of the Desert is a Western film based on the novel by Zane Grey, and starring Bebe Daniels, Ernest Torrence, and Noah Beery....
(1924)
- The Thundering Herd
The Thundering Herd is a 1933 Western film starring Randolph Scott, Buster Crabbe, Noah Beery, Raymond Hatton, and Harry Carey. The movie is a remake of a 1925 version, and both Noah Beery and Raymond Hatton reprised their roles...
(1925)
- Desert Gold
-Cast:* Neil Hamilton as George Thorne* Shirley Mason as Mercedes Castanada* Robert Frazer as Dick Gale* William Powell as Snake Landree* Josef Swickard as Sebastian Castaneda* George Irving as Richard Stanton Gale* Eddie Gribbon as One-Found Kelley...
(1926)
- The Water Hole
The Water Hole is a Western film starring Jack Holt, Nancy Carroll, and John Boles, based on a novel by Zane Grey, and released by Paramount Pictures.The film had sequences filmed in Technicolor, and was filmed in Death Valley, California....
(1928)
- Fighting Caravans
Fighting Caravans is a lavish 1931 western film starring Gary Cooper and Lili Damita. The movie was directed by Otto Brower and David Burton. Although the film is billed as being based on the novel of the same name by Zane Grey, the stories have little in common. The film was actually written by...
(1931)
- Wagon Wheels
Wagon Wheels is a 1934 remake of 1931's Fighting Caravans, using stock footage from the original and substituting a new cast headed by Randolph Scott and Gail Patrick to replace the earlier film's Gary Cooper and Lili Damita. The western movie was directed by Charles Barton from the Zane Grey novel...
(1934)
- The Arizona Raiders (1936)
- Desert Gold (1936)
- Drift Fence
Drift Fence is a 1936 American film directed by Otho Lovering. The film is also known as Texas Desperadoes .-Cast:*Buster Crabbe as "Slinger" Dunn*Katherine DeMille as Molly Dunn*Tom Keene as Jim Travis...
(1936)
- The Dude Ranger (1934)
- The Light of Western Stars
The Light of Western Stars is a 1940 American film directed by Lesley Selander. The film is also known as Border Renegade .- Cast :*Victor Jory as Gene Stewart*Jo Ann Sayers as Madeline "Majesty" Hammond...
(1940)
- Nevada (1944)
- Wanderer of the Wasteland (1945)
- West of the Pecos (1945)
- Sunset Pass (1946)
- Thunder Mountain (1947)
- Under the Tonto Rim (1947)
- Wild Horse Mesa (1947)
- Code of the West
Code of the West is a 1947 film based on the novel by Zane Grey. The film was directed by William A. Burke, and written by Zane Grey and Norman Houston.-Cast:...
(1947)
Further reading
- Zane Grey: "The Man Whose Books Made the West Famous" by Norris F. Schneider (1967)
- Zane Grey: A Biography by Frank Gruber (1969)
- Zane Grey by Carlton Jackson (1973)
- Zane Grey by Anne Ronald (1975)
- Zane Grey by Carol Gay (1979)
- Zane Grey's Arizona by Candace C. Kant (1984)
- Zane Grey: A Photographic Odyssey by Loren Grey
Loren Grey was an educational psychologist and author of several books in that field. He also managed the legacy of his father, western author Zane Grey....
(1985)
- Zane Grey, A Documented Portrait by G.M. Farley (1985)
- Selling the Wild West by Christine Bold (1987)
- Dolly & Zane Grey. Letters From a Marriage Candace C Kant, (2008)
- West of Everything by Jane Tompkins (1992)
- Zane Grey: His Life, His Adventures, His Women. by Thomas H. Pauly (2005)
- Rider of the Purple Prose, New York Times Book Review (January 1. 2006)
- Zane Grey: A Study in Values - Above and Beyond the West by Chuck Pfeiffer (2006)
- Ace of Hearts: The Westerns of Zane Grey by Arthur G. Kimball (1993)
External links
Sources
- Works by Zane Grey at Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
- Works by Zane Grey at Freeread
Other