Susan’s Almanac Project for March 22, 2019

It’s the birthday of Louis L’Amour (1908-1988), whose 100+ books—mostly westerns—sold more than 200 million copies to make him one of the most popular authors in the world. He was also the first novelist to receive a Congressional gold medal (1983).

(A quick look at the list of Congressional gold medal winners reveals that other recipients have included Orville and Wilbur Wright; Native American code talkers; Mother Teresa; and Arnold Palmer—I’m guessing for his sportsmanship but possibly for inventing my favorite drink, iced tea and lemonade.)

L’Amour, born Louis Dearborn LaMoore, grew up in Jamestown, North Dakota; his father was a large animal veterinarian. (They don’t dink around with cats in Jamestown.) His grandfather had fought in the War of the Rebellion, a couple uncles worked on ranches or as cowboys, and L’Amour read a lot of Jack London, Edgar Rice Burroughs, and Robert Louis Stevenson, so you can see where this is going. When L’Amour was 15, the economy in the area tanked, and Dr. LaMoore took his family on the road for seven years. L’Amour did everything from skinning cattle to mining to pro boxing and met a ton of Colorful Characters who would later inspire his writing: U.S. Marshalls and Texas Rangers and people who’d known Billy the Kid. L’Amour also rode the rails and even went to sea as a merchant seaman. Sometimes he worked extra hard and saved money so he could quit for awhile and just read and study.

L’Amour’s parents eventually settled down on a farm in Oklahoma owned by another brother; L’Amour began writing stories and first tried submitting to literary journals, which turned out to be a hard way to earn a living. (WELL, THIS IS SHOCKING NEWS.) Finally he sold a story to a pulp magazine called True Gang Life, then another to Thrilling Adventures Magazine, and picked up some momentum, even selling something to the prestigious lit journal Story.

L’Amour served in WWII and when he got out, the market had changed: people didn’t want adventure stories, they wanted mysteries and westerns. (Drum roll…) L’Amour moved to Los Angeles, pounded out stories and a few novels, and when his short story “Gift of Cochise” was made into the movie Hondo (1953) starring John Wayne, L’Amour finally made it big—and for the first time began to write under his own name. He wrote 17 novels about the Sackett family and another series about Hopalong Cassidy; thirty of his novels became movies. He also published 14 short story collections and some poetry, and his autobiography, Education of a Wandering Man, was published posthumously in 1989. L’Amour died of lung cancer (though I believe he was a non-smoker) and was survived by his wife, son, and daughter.

Oh: L’Amour also once worked as an elephant handler but that’s almost too boring to mention because who hasn’t done that?

Have a fabulous, why-on-earth-is-there-no-school-today sort of Friday, maybe plan a trip to the bookstore so the natives don’t get too restless, and stay scrupulously honest to the data.