Dale L. Walker (August 3, 1935 - December 7, 2015) was an American writer. He was born in

Decatur, Illinois Decatur ( ) is the largest city and the county seat of Macon County in the U.S. state of Illinois, with a population of 70,522 as of the 2020 Census. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Ce ...

, but spent most of his life in

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the county seat, seat of El Paso County, Texas, El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the United States Census Bureau, U.S. Census Bureau w ...

. The author of twenty-three books, he also served as a television reporter, editor, news and information officer, university press director, freelance writer, biographer, and historian. He was past president of

Western Writers of America Western Writers of America (WWA), founded 1953, promotes literature, both fictional and nonfictional, pertaining to the American West. Although its founders wrote traditional Western fiction, the more than 600 current members also include historian ...

(WWA).

Biography

As a boy growing up in the farm town of

, Walker was inspired by the writings of

Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...

, and has written extensively about the author. Walker began his writing career by working for his high school newspaper, and found various journalistic jobs throughout his youth. He enlisted in the navy at 18 and upon discharge visited his father, a career army sergeant, at

Fort Bliss, Texas Fort Bliss is a United States Army post in New Mexico and Texas, with its headquarters in El Paso, Texas. Named in honor of LTC William Bliss (1815–1853), a mathematics professor who was the son-in-law of President Zachary Taylor, Ft. Bliss h ...

, and subsequently enrolled at the

University of Texas at El Paso The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

where he earned his degree in journalism within three years. By then he had married Alice McCord, fathered the first of five children, and earned a number of freelance publishing credits.

Writing career

Walker's

freelance writing ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

career began in earnest in 1960 while a college student working part-time at a television reporting job in

El Paso El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the s ...

. He wrote frequently for newspapers and magazines. His work, close to 2,000 published pieces appeared in 130 periodicals. His first big break came in 1967 when his mentor, the late

Richard O'Connor General Sir Richard Nugent O'Connor, (21 August 1889 – 17 June 1981) was a senior British Army officer who fought in both the First and Second World Wars, and commanded the Western Desert Force in the early years of the Second World War. He ...

, invited him to collaborate on a biography of radical journalist John Reed. Harcourt, Brace and World published the work as ''The Lost Revolutionary,'' which was reviewed by ''The New York Times''. Walker waited 36 years for his second ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' review, this one for his gold rush book, ''Eldorado,'' in 2003. Walker wrote pre-Civil War history as well as western and military history. His book, ''

Mary Edwards Walker Mary Edwards Walker, M.D. (November 26, 1832 – February 21, 1919), commonly referred to as Dr. Mary Walker, was an American abolitionist, prohibitionist, prisoner of war and surgeon. She is the only woman to ever receive the Medal of Honor. ...

: Above and Beyond'' (2005) is a biography of the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

, his ''The Boys of '98:

Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...

and the

Rough Riders The Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and diso ...

'' (1998) received high praise as had his ''Bear Flag Rising: The Conquest of

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

'' (1999), which told of events that led to the annexation of California in 1846 when the territory was a Mexican province, and ''Pacific Destiny: The Three-Century Journey to the

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

Country'' (2000), which won a Spur Award from Western Writers of America, as had three additional Walker works. His best writings were biographies such as ''Januarius MacGahan The Life and Campaigns of an American War Correspondent'' (1988), which he regarded as his best book. Walker was a member of the

Texas Institute of Letters The Texas Institute of Letters is a non-profit Honor Society founded by William Harvey Vann in 1936 to celebrate Texas literature and to recognize distinctive literary achievement. The TIL’s elected membership consists of the state’s most respe ...

and the Author's Guild as well as Western Writers of America, Inc.

Bibliography

*''The Lost Revolutionary: A Biography Of John Reed'' ith Richard O'Connor New York, NY: Harcourt, Brace & World, 1967. *''The Fiction of Jack London: A Chronicle Bibliography'' ith James E. Sisson II El Paso, TX: Texas Western Press, 1972. *''C. L. Sonnichsen: Grassroots Historian'', El Paso, TX: Texas Western Press, 1972. *''Death Was the Black Horse: The Story of Rough Rider, Buckey O'Neill'', Austin, TX: Madrona Press, 1975. *''No Mentor but Myself: Jack London on Writing and Writers'', Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1975. *''Curious Fragments: Jack London's Tales of Fantasy'', Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1975. *''Only the Clouds Remain: Ted Parsons of the Lafayette Escadrille'', Amsterdam, NY: Alandale Press, 1980. *''Jack London and Conan Doyle: A Literary Kinship'', Bloomingdale, IN: Gaslight Publications, 1981. *''Will Henry's West'', El Paso, TX: Texas Western Press, 1984. *''In a Far Country: Jack London's Tales of the West,'' Ottawa, IL: Jameson Books, 1987. *''Januarius MacGahan: The Life and Campaigns of an American War Correspondent'', Athens, OH: Ohio University Press, 1988. *''Mavericks: Ten Uncorralled Westerners'', Phoeniz, AZ: Golden West Press, ctober1989. *''The Golden Spurs,'' New York, NY: Tor Books, 1991. *''Legends of the Wild West'', Chicago, IL: Publications Inaternational, Ltd., 1995. *''Legends and Lies: Great Mysteries of the American West'', New York, NY: Forge Books, 1997. *''The Western Hall of Fame Anthology,'' New York, NY: Berkley Books, 1997. *''The Boys of '98: Theodore Roosevelt and the Rough Riders'', New York, NY: Forge Books, 1998. *''Bear Flag Rising: The Conquest of California, 1846'', New York, NY: Forge Books, 1999. *''Pacific Destiny: The Three-Century Journey to the Oregon Country'', New York, NY: Forge Books, 2000. * *''Westward: A Fictional History of the American West'', New York, NY: Forge Book, 2004. *''The Calamity Papers: Western Myths and Cold Cases'', New York, NY: Forge Books, 2004. *''Mary Edwards Walker: Above and Beyond,'' New York, NY: Forge Books, 2005.

References

External links

*''Maverick Writers'' by S. Jean Mead (Jean Henry-Mead), * ''Roundup'' magazine profile by Candy Moulton * * * Hudson Reporter, May 26, 2000, July 14, 2000 * {{DEFAULTSORT:Walker, Dale L. 1935 births 2015 deaths American biographers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers Writers from Decatur, Illinois University of Texas at El Paso alumni Historians from Illinois American male non-fiction writers