(1908–88)
a US author of over a hundred books, most of them westerns , which sold more than 200 million copies during his life. He is the only US writer to have received a gold medal from Congress (in 1983) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (in 1984). His first book, Hondo (1953), was made into a 3-D film with John Wayne . Among his other books which also became films were The Burning Hills (1956) and Heller in Pink Tights (1960).