Luke Short (born Frederick Dilley Glidden November 19, 1908 – August 18, 1975) was a popular
Western
Western may refer to:
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*Western, Nebraska, a village in the US
*Western, New York, a town in the US
*Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia
*Western world, countries that id ...
writer. At least ten of his novels were made into films.
Biography
Born in
Kewanee, Illinois
Kewanee () is a city in Henry County, Illinois, Henry County, Illinois. "Kewanee" is the Ho-Chunk, Winnebago word for greater prairie-chicken, which lived there. The population was 12,509 in the 2020 census, down from 12,916 in 2010.
Geography ...
, he attended the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...
for two and a half years and then transferred to the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou or MU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri, United States. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Univers ...
at
Columbia to study journalism. Following graduation in 1930, he worked for a number of newspapers before becoming a trapper in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
. He later moved to
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
to be an archeologist's assistant. After reading Western
pulp magazine
Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their ...
s and trying to escape unemployment, he began to write Western fiction. He sold his first short story and novel in 1935 under the pen name of Luke Short (which was also the name of a famous
gunslinger
Gunfighters, also called gunslingers () or in the late 19th and early 20th century gunmen, were individuals in the American Old West who gained a reputation of being dangerous with a gun and participated in shootouts. Today, the term "gunslin ...
in the
Old West
The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...
, although it's unclear if he was aware of that when he assumed the pen name.) His apprenticeship in the pulps was comparatively brief. In 1938, he sold a short story, "The Warning", to ''
Collier's
}
''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter F. Collier, Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened i ...
'', and in 1941, he sold his novel ''Blood on the Moon'', or ''Gunman's Chance'', to ''
The Saturday Evening Post
''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and then every other week until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely circulated and influ ...
''. Some of his later novels were also serialised in the ''Post''.
His first agent was Marguerite E. Harper in
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
New York may also refer to:
Places United Kingdom
* ...
, and later,
H.N. Swanson in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
. The latter arranged to get many of his novels and short stories made into films.
After publishing over a dozen novels in the 1930s, he started writing for movies in the 1940s. In 1948 alone, four Luke Short novels appeared as movies. Among his notable film credits are ''
Ramrod
A ramrod (or scouring stick) is a metal or wooden device used with muzzleloader, muzzleloading firearms to push the projectile up against the propellant (mainly blackpowder). The ramrod was used with weapons such as muskets and cannons and was u ...
'' (1947) and ''
Blood on the Moon
''Blood on the Moon'' is a 1948 RKO black-and-white "psychological" Western film noir starring Robert Mitchum, Barbara Bel Geddes, Robert Preston and Walter Brennan. Directed by Robert Wise, the cinematography is by Nicholas Musuraca. The m ...
'' (1948). His novel, ''The Whip'', or ''Doom Cliff'', was serialized in both ''Collier's'' and ''The Saturday Evening Post''. The first two parts were published in ''Collier's'' in the December 21, 1956, and January 4, 1957, issues. ''Collier's'' then ceased publication. ''The Saturday Evening Post'' bought the rights to the remaining unpublished installment and published it on February 9, 1957.
Over 35 million copies of his books had been sold by 1972. Among his fans were
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...
and
Harry S. Truman
Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt that year. Subsequen ...
.
Short continued to write novels, despite increasing trouble with his vision, until his death in 1975.
He married Florence Elder in 1934 and the couple had three children.
Novels
*''The Feud at Single Shot'', 1935
*''The Branded Man'', 1936
*''The Man on the Blue'', 1936
*''Marauders' Moon'', 1937
*''King Colt'', 1937
*''Brand of Empire'', 1937
*''Bold Rider'', 1938
*''
Savage Range
''Savage Range'' (1938) is a Western novel written by Luke Short (writer), Luke Short. The story is set in northern New Mexico, likely during the 19th century. Jim Wade is hired by Max Bonsell to drive the landgrabbers off the ranch. His aim is ...
'', 1938
*''Raiders of the Rimrock'', 1938
*''Hard Money'', 1938
*''Bounty Guns'', 1939
*''War on the Cimarron'', 1939
*''Dead Freight for Piute'', 1939 — ''
Albuquerque (film)'', 1948
*''Bought with a Gun'', 1940
*''Barren Land Showdown'', 1940
*''Raw Land'', 1940
*''Gunman's Chance'', 1941 — ''
Blood on the Moon (film)'', 1948
*''Hardcase'', 1941. Dave Coyle is a runt, a trouble-maker, a prankster, and a cold-blooded killer - so they say. But he risks his life to buffalo a town and stop a ranch-taking because a girl was once kind.
*''Ride the Man Down'', 1942 — ''
Ride the Man Down (film)'', 1952
*''Sunset Graze'', 1942
*''And the Wind Blows Free'', 1943—told in the first person—unique for Short
*''Ramrod'', 1943 — ''
Ramrod (film)'', 1947
*''Coroner Creek'', 1945 — ''
Coroner Creek (film)'', 1948
*''Fiddlefoot'', 1946
*''Station West'', 1946 — ''
Station West (film)'', 1948. Cavalry officer John Haven must work undercover and alone in prize fights and sawmills to find who stole Army uniforms to then rob a gold bullion shipment.
*''Ambush'', 1948 — ''
Ambush (film)'', 1950
*''
High Vermilion'', 1948 — ''
Silver City (film)'', 1951
*''Vengeance Valley'', 1949 — ''
Vengeance Valley (film)'', 1951
*''Play a Lone Hand'', 1950
*''Barren Land Murders'', 1951
*''Saddle by Starlight'', 1952
*''Silver Rock'', 1953 — ''
Hell's Outpost (film)'', 1954
*''Rimrock'', 1955
*''The Whip'', 1956
*''Summer of the Smoke'', 1958
*''First Claim'', 1960
*''Desert Crossing'', 1961
*''Last Hunt'', 1962
*''The Some-Day Country'', 1963
*''First Campaign'', 1965
*''Paper Sheriff'', 1965. A sheriff discovers the Hoad clan's new scheme is rustling and murder. He embarks on a one-man feud with the clan - and his wife, a former Hoad in the thick.
*''The Primrose Try'', 1966
*''Debt of Honor'', 1967
*''The Guns of Hanging Lake'', 1968
*''Donovan's Gun'', 1968
*''The Deserters'', 1969
*''Three for the Money'', 1970
*''Man from the Desert'', 1971
*''The Outrider'', 1972
*''The Stalkers'', 1973
*''The Man from Two Rivers'', 1974
*''Trouble Country'', 1976
Short-story collections
*''Luke Short's Best of the West'', 1983, includes 12 short stories - "Pull Your Freight!" (
''The Hangman'', 1959 movie), "Gunslick Gold", "Lead Won’t Lie", "The Warning", "Bounty Hunter", "The Doctor Keeps a Promise", "High Grade", "Florida Manets West", "Court Day", "Payoff at Rain Peak", "Rough Shod", and "Top Hand."
*''The Marshal of Vengeance'', 1986, includes six short stories - "The Marshal of Vengeance", "The Ghost Deputy of Doubletree", "Death Cold-Decks a Tinhorn", "War Fires Light the Stage Trails", "Hideout", and "Exile".
References
External links
*
*
Guide to the Frederick D. Glidden papers at the University of Oregon
{{DEFAULTSORT:Short, Luke
People from Kewanee, Illinois
Western (genre) writers
20th-century American novelists
American male novelists
Novelists from Illinois
Place of death missing
1908 births
1975 deaths
American male short story writers
20th-century American short story writers
20th-century American male writers