orig. Louis Dearborn LaMoore
born March 22, 1908, Jamestown, N.D., U.S.
died June 10, 1988, Los Angeles, Calif.
U.S. author of westerns.
He left school at age 15 and traveled the world before beginning his writing career in the 1940s. He used pseudonyms, including Tex Burns and Jim Mayo, until Hondo (1953) became a successful film. His more than 100 works, mostly formula westerns that convincingly portray frontier life, have sold 200 million copies in 20 languages, and more than 30
including Kilkenny (1954), The Burning Hills (1956), Guns of the Timberland (1955), and How the West Was Won (1963)
were the basis of films.