John H. Reese
Encyclopedia
John Henry Reese was an American
author of Western
and Crime Fiction
. He won the prestigious 1952 New York Herald Tribune award for his first children's book, Big Mutt. He produced more than 40 Western novels and well over three hundred short stories. His first novel Sheehan's Mill, not in the Western genre
, was published by Doubleday in 1943, during war-time publishing restrictions.
Reese was born in Sweetwater
, Nebraska
, and died in Santa Maria
, California
. He went to school in Nebraska and Kansas. "I was the eldest of six children of a very poor couple. My father was a horse breaker and former cavalryman; my mother was the daughter of a frontier blacksmith and woodworker. I may be the last professional writer who talked to those survivors of the 1880's and 1890's and who grew up in the same environment. It was a specialized education for one job alone, the one I have." He married Margaret Smith in 1938, was divorced, and married Norma Spivack in 1962. Altogether he had seven children, one of whom was adopted. In addition to writing, John H. Reese worked for the U.S. Department of Internal Revenue
and as a reporter for the Los Angeles Examiner in California and as a free-lance for newspapers in Mexico. His first Western novel was Signal Guns at Sunup written under the pseudonym of John Jo Carpenter.
in the 1930s. His work appeared in such magazines as 10 Story Western, Ace High, Argosy
, Big Book Western, Dime Western Magazine, and Ranch Romances, Black Mask, Detective Tales, Speed Detective, Super Detective, Doctor Death, Ellery Queen's and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Man from U.N.C.L.E. He graduated to writing for the slicks and glossies
and sold stories in the high-end market to The Saturday Evening Post
, Atlantic Monthly, Collier's, and Playboy
. He was a leading freelance contributor to The Saturday Evening Post for 18 years (1944–1962). Reese was "a nut about the English language", "delighted in good prose and was a fine stylist himself." Sheehan's Mill was described as "a first novel with unexpected approach and fresh personal style."
Big Mutt, Reese's first children's book, was about a sheep dog in the badlands of North Dakota. It won the 1952 New York Herald Tribune
award for best children's book. He continued to write children's books through the 1960s, but thereafter concentrated on his Westerns. The Jesus on Horseback trilogy is considered his best work. Among his many pseudonyms are: Eddie Abbott, John Jo Carpenter, Camford Cheavly, Camford Sheaveley, Camford Sheavely, and Cody Kennedy, Jr. The John H. Reese manuscript collection is located at the American Heritage Center (formerly the Western History Research Center) at the University of Wyoming
in Laramie. Several of his Western stories were made into films, including Good Day for a Hanging
(1959) from the story Frontier Frenzy, and The Young Land
(1959) based upon a short story by Reese. Charley Varrick
(1973) was based on his crime novel The Looters, His stories were the basis for many radio and television broadcasts, including NBC's Theatre Newsstand Radio Broadcast, ABC's Five Star Matinee Radio Broadcast, and the DuPont Show of the Week.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author of Western
Western fiction
Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...
and Crime Fiction
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
. He won the prestigious 1952 New York Herald Tribune award for his first children's book, Big Mutt. He produced more than 40 Western novels and well over three hundred short stories. His first novel Sheehan's Mill, not in the Western genre
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
, was published by Doubleday in 1943, during war-time publishing restrictions.
Reese was born in Sweetwater
Sweetwater, Nebraska
Sweetwater is an unincorporated community in Beaver Township, Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. It lies along Nebraska Highway 2, half way between Ravenna and Hazard. It is a part of the Kearney, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. Sweetwater is located on Mud Creek, a tributary of...
, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....
, and died in Santa Maria
Santa Maria, California
Santa Maria is a city in Santa Barbara County, on the Central Coast of California. The 2010 census population was 100,062, putting it ahead of Santa Barbara for the first time and making it the largest city in the county...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He went to school in Nebraska and Kansas. "I was the eldest of six children of a very poor couple. My father was a horse breaker and former cavalryman; my mother was the daughter of a frontier blacksmith and woodworker. I may be the last professional writer who talked to those survivors of the 1880's and 1890's and who grew up in the same environment. It was a specialized education for one job alone, the one I have." He married Margaret Smith in 1938, was divorced, and married Norma Spivack in 1962. Altogether he had seven children, one of whom was adopted. In addition to writing, John H. Reese worked for the U.S. Department of Internal Revenue
Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service is the revenue service of the United States federal government. The agency is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury, and is under the immediate direction of the Commissioner of Internal Revenue...
and as a reporter for the Los Angeles Examiner in California and as a free-lance for newspapers in Mexico. His first Western novel was Signal Guns at Sunup written under the pseudonym of John Jo Carpenter.
Writing
Reese finished high school, but considered himself "self-taught". He began writing primarily western stories for the pulpsPulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
in the 1930s. His work appeared in such magazines as 10 Story Western, Ace High, Argosy
Argosy (magazine)
Argosy was an American pulp magazine, published by Frank Munsey. It is generally considered to be the first American pulp magazine. The magazine began as a general information periodical entitled The Golden Argosy, targeted at the boys adventure market.-Launch of Argosy:In late September 1882,...
, Big Book Western, Dime Western Magazine, and Ranch Romances, Black Mask, Detective Tales, Speed Detective, Super Detective, Doctor Death, Ellery Queen's and Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, and Man from U.N.C.L.E. He graduated to writing for the slicks and glossies
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
and sold stories in the high-end market to The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
, Atlantic Monthly, Collier's, and Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
. He was a leading freelance contributor to The Saturday Evening Post for 18 years (1944–1962). Reese was "a nut about the English language", "delighted in good prose and was a fine stylist himself." Sheehan's Mill was described as "a first novel with unexpected approach and fresh personal style."
Big Mutt, Reese's first children's book, was about a sheep dog in the badlands of North Dakota. It won the 1952 New York Herald Tribune
New York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
award for best children's book. He continued to write children's books through the 1960s, but thereafter concentrated on his Westerns. The Jesus on Horseback trilogy is considered his best work. Among his many pseudonyms are: Eddie Abbott, John Jo Carpenter, Camford Cheavly, Camford Sheaveley, Camford Sheavely, and Cody Kennedy, Jr. The John H. Reese manuscript collection is located at the American Heritage Center (formerly the Western History Research Center) at the University of Wyoming
University of Wyoming
The University of Wyoming is a land-grant university located in Laramie, Wyoming, situated on Wyoming's high Laramie Plains, at an elevation of 7,200 feet , between the Laramie and Snowy Range mountains. It is known as UW to people close to the university...
in Laramie. Several of his Western stories were made into films, including Good Day for a Hanging
Good Day for a Hanging
Good Day for a Hanging is a western concerning how a town views the upcoming hanging of a young man accused of murdering the sheriff during a robbery. Directed by Nathan H. Juran, it stars Fred MacMurray as the reluctant new sheriff and Robert Vaughn as the young man accused of the crime....
(1959) from the story Frontier Frenzy, and The Young Land
The Young Land
The Young Land is a 1959 American Western drama film directed by Ted Tetzlaff starring Patrick Wayne and Dennis Hopper. The cinematography was by Technicolor developer Winton C. Hoch and Henry Sharp. The film was distributed by Columbia Pictures Corporation.It is the third and final of only 3 films...
(1959) based upon a short story by Reese. Charley Varrick
Charley Varrick
Charley Varrick is a 1973 crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. The film was based on the novel The Looters by John H. Reese.-Plot:...
(1973) was based on his crime novel The Looters, His stories were the basis for many radio and television broadcasts, including NBC's Theatre Newsstand Radio Broadcast, ABC's Five Star Matinee Radio Broadcast, and the DuPont Show of the Week.
Westerns
- Signal Guns at Sunup, 1950, (as John Jo Carpenter)
- The High Passes, 1954.
- Rich Man's Range, 1966.
- Sunblind Range, 1968.
- Sure Shot Shapiro, 1968.
- Singalee, 1969.
- Horses, Honor, and Women, 1970.
- Sierra Showdown, 1971.
- Jesus on Horseback: The Mooney County Saga, 1971 (a trilogy; separately published as Angel Range, The Blowholers, and The Land Baron, 1973–74; The Blowholers was reprinted in 1975 as Lonesome Cowboy).
- Big Hitch, 1972.
- Springfield .45-70, 1972.
- The Wild One, 1972.
- They Don't Shoot Cowards, 1973.
- Weapon Heavy, 1973 (1st in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- The Sharpshooter, 1974.(2nd in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- Texas Gold, 1975. (3rd in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- Wes Hardin's Gun, 1975. (4th in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- Hangman's Springs, 1976. (5th in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- Sequoia Shootout, 1977. (6th in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- The Cherokee Diamondback, 1977. (7th in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- Dead Eye, 1978. (8th in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- A Pair of Deuces, 1978. (9th in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- Two Thieves and a Puma, 1980. (10th in the Jefferson Hewitt series)
- Blacksnake Man, 1976.
- A Sheriff for All the People, 1976.
- Omar, Fats, and Trixie, 1976.
- Halter-Broke, 1977.
- Rich Man's Range, 1978.
- Legacy of a Land Hog, 1979.
- Maximum Range, 1981.
- This Wild Land, 1979. (as Cody Kennedy, Jr.) (Shepherd Family Series, Book 1)
- The Warrior Flame, 1980. (as Cody Kennedy, Jr.) (Shepherd Family Series, Book 2)
- The Conquering Clan, 1980. (as Cody Kennedy, Jr.) (Shepherd Family Series, Book 3)
Other works
John Henry Reese's other works include:- Sheehan's Mill, 1943. (a novel, published by Doubleday)
- Big Mutt, 1952. (for children) (winner 1952 New York Herald TribuneNew York Herald TribuneThe New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
award for best children's book) - The Shouting Duke: A Story Scientifically Calibrated to the Taste, Needs, and Emotional Development of the Nine to Ninety Age Groups, 1952. (for children)
- Three Wild Ones, 1963. (for children)
- Dinky, 1964. (for children)
- The Looters, 1968. (a crime fiction novel)
- Pity Us All, 1969. (a crime fiction novel)