Wayne D. Overholser (September 4, 1906, in Pomeroy, Washington – August 27, 1996, in Boulder, Colorado), was an American Western writer. Overholser won the 1953 First Spur Award for Best Western Novel for Law Man using the pseudonym Lee Leighton. Law Man was made into the motion picture Star in the Dust, starring John Agar and Richard Boone (and Clint Eastwood in his first - uncredited - Western role), in 1956.[1] In 1955 he won the 1954 (second) Spur Award for The Violent Land.[2] He won the Spur Award for a third time in 1969 for his juvenile novel about the Meeker Massacre, with Lewis Patten.[3] Three additional pseudonyms were John S. Daniels, Dan J. Stevens and Joseph Wayne; combinations of his three sons' names.
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2021) |
Early life
Overholser grew up on two different farms in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.[4][5] He graduated from Pleasant Hill High School in 1924.[5] He first attended Albany College, then the Oregon Normal School.[5] He taught school in Tillamook and Bend.[4]
Overholser attended summer school from 1927-1934, taking botany classes and studying under writing professor W. F. G. Thacher (who also mentored Ernest Haycox, whom Overholser cited as an influence) at the University of Oregon, graduating in 1934 with a bachelor of science degree.[4][5][6][7] He married Evaleth Miller in 1934, and the couple traveled to Missoula, Montana in 1935 where Wayne studied with E. Douglas Branch and Robert Penn Warren.[5]
He sold his first story to Popular Western, a pulp magazine, in 1936.[5]
In popular culture
Overholser was referenced in Stephen King's novel Wolves of the Calla, part of King's Dark Tower, in which he was both mentioned explicitly, and is the namesake of a character in the town of Calla Bryn Sturgis.[8]
Work
| credits | title | year | publisher | comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wayne D. Overholser | Buckaroo's Code | 1947 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | West of the Rimrock | 1949 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Draw or Drag | 1950 | ||
| Joseph Wayne | The Snake Stomper | 1951 | ||
| Lee Leighton | Law Man | 1953 | ||
| Dan J. Stevens | Wild Horse Range | 1953 | Ace | |
| Wayne D. Overholser | Steel to the South | 1953 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Fabulous Gunman | 1954 | ||
| John S. Daniels | The Nester | 1954 | ||
| Lee Leighton | Beyond the Pass | 1956 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Cast a Long Shadow | 1957 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Lone Deputy | 1960 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Killer Marshal | 1961 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Standoff at the River | 1961 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | War in Sandoval County | 1961 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Bitter Night | 1962 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Judas Gun | 1962 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Trial of Billy Peale | 1963 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | A Gun for Johnny Deere | 1964 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | To the Far Mountains | 1964 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Day of Judgement | 1965 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Colorado Incident | - | reissue of Day of Judgement | |
| Lee Leighton | Big Ugly | 1966 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Ride Into Danger | 1967 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Summer of the Sioux | 1967 | ||
| Lee Leighton | Hanging at Pulpit Rock | 1967 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | North to Deadwood | 1968 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Dakota Jones | 1969 | German translation of North to Deadwood | |
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Meeker Massacre | 1969 | with Lewis B Patten | |
| Lee Leighton | You'll never hang me | 1971 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Noose | 1972 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Long Trail North | 1973 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Brand 99 | 1974 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Diablo Ghost | 1978 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Trouble Kid | 1978 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Cattle Queen Feud | 1979 | ||
| Lee Leighton | Cassidy | 1980 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Sun on the Wall | 1981 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Mason County War | 1981 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Dangerous Patrol | 1982 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Long Wind | 1986 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Bunch Grass | 1986 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Gunplay Valley: The Sweet And Bitter Land | 1987 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Return of the Kid | 1987 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | By Gun and Spur | 1987 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Red Snow | 1988 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Dry Gulcher | 1988 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Gunlock | 1988 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Red Is the Valley | 1988 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Land of Promises | 1989 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Proud Journey | 1989 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Valley of Guns | 1991 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Cast a Long Shadow | 1991 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Desperate Man | 1992 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Violent Land | 1992 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Hearn's Valley | 1992 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Tough Hand | 1992 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Hunted | 1994 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Patriarch of Gunsight Flat | 1996 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | They Hanged Wild Bill Murphy | 1996 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Nightmare in Broken Bow | 1997 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Nugget City | 1997 | ||
| John S. Daniels | War Party | 1997 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Violent Men | 1997 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Riders of the Sundowns | 1997 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Buckskin Man | 1998 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Petticoat Brigade | 1998 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Oregon Trunk | 1998 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Chumley's Gold | 1999 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Ride the Red Trail | 2000 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Tales of the West | 2000 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Gunflame | 2000 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Outlaws | 2000 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Gateway House | 2001 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Revenge in Crow City | 2001 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Rainbow Rider | 2001 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Day the Killers Came | 2002 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Three Sons of Adam Jones | 2003 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Bad Man | 2003 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Wild Horse River | 2003 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Law at Miles City | 2004 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Bitter Wind | 2006 | ||
| Lee Leighton | Fight for the Valley | 2007 | ||
| Lee Leighton | Tomahawk | 2009 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Pass Creek Valley | 2009 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Shadow on the Land | 2009 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Law at Angel's Landing | 2010 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Man from Yesterday | 2010 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Death of a Cattle King | 2011 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Ten Mile Valley | 2012 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | The Waiting Gun | 2013 | ||
| Wayne D. Overholser | Swampland Empire | 2013 |
Collections
- The Best Western Stories of Wayne D. Overholser (1984) aka The Best Western Stories
References
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