Jack Miles Bickham (September 2, 1930 – July 25, 1997) was an American author who wrote 75 published novels, of which two were made into movies, ''

The Apple Dumpling Gang ''The Apple Dumpling Gang'' is a 1971 novel by Jack Bickham, about a group of orphaned children during the California gold rush. They encounter a gambler who reluctantly helps them, as well as a pair of hapless robbers who are after the gold ...

'' and '' Baker's Hawk''.

Life

Jack Bickham was born September 2, 1930, in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. He was an assistant professor at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

's H.H. Herbert School of Journalism in

Norman, Oklahoma Norman () is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Oklahoma, with a population of 128,097 as of 2021. It is the largest city and the county seat of Cleveland County, Oklahoma, Cleveland County, and the second-largest city in the Oklahoma C ...

, from 1969 to 1972, associate professor from 1972 to 1979, and full professor in 1979. He directed the annual short course on professional writing from 1973 to 1990. Bickham received the rank of David Ross Boyd Professor, the highest honor the university can bestow for teaching excellence. He died at Norman Regional Hospital following a lengthy battle with

lymphoma Lymphoma is a group of blood and lymph tumors that develop from lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell). In current usage the name usually refers to just the cancerous versions rather than all such tumours. Signs and symptoms may include enlar ...

Literary career

Jack M. Bickham wrote over 75 published novels, some under just his first and middle name, John Miles, as well as the thirteen books of the Wildcat O'Shea western series under the name Jeff Clinton, six espionage novels under his own name featuring professional tennis player and part-time CIA Agent Brad Smith, and six instructional books on the craft of fiction. Two of his novels were made into motion pictures: ''The Apple Dumpling Gang'', published in 1971 and filmed in 1975, and ''Baker's Hawk'', published in 1974 and filmed in 1976. Two of his books have been reprinted by Reader's Digest Condensed Books and two have been Detective Book Club selections. He was the 1998 winner of the

Arrell Gibson Arrell Morgan Gibson (1921–1987) was a historian and author specializing in the history of the state of Oklahoma. Gibson was born in Pleasanton, Kansas on December 1, 1921. He earned degrees from Missouri Southern State College and the Univer ...

Lifetime Achievement Award (

S.E. Hinton Susan Eloise Hinton (born July 22, 1948) is an American writer best known for her young-adult novels (YA) set in Oklahoma, especially '' The Outsiders'' (1967), which she wrote during high school. Hinton is credited with introducing the YA gen ...

was the 1997 winner). Bickham was a member of the Oklahoma Journalism Hall of Fame and the Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame.The Oklahoma Writers Hall of Fame
7 November 2013

Selected bibliography

As Jack M. Bickham *''Gunman's Gamble'' (1958 ACE Double D-308 with ''Draw and Die!'' by Roy Manning) *''Feud Fury'' (1959 ACE Double D-384 with ''Mountain Ambush'' by Louis Trimble) *''Killer's Paradise'' (1959 ACE Double D-442 with ''Rider of Rincon'' by Rod Patterson) *''The Useless Gun'' (1960 ACE Double D-462 with ''The Long Fuse'' by John A. Latham) *''Hangman's Territory'' (1961 ACE Double D-510 with ''The Searching Rider'' by Harry Whittington) *''Gunmen Can't Hide'' (1961 ACE Double F-120 with ''Come In Shooting'' by John Callahan) *''Katie, Kelly and Heck'' *''Dopey Dan'' *''Jilly's Canal'' *''The Apple Dumpling Gang'' *''Decker's Campaign'' *''Target: Charity Ross'' *''The War on Charity Ross'' *''The Padre Must Die'' *''Tiebreaker'' (Brad Smith #1) *''Dropshot'' (Brad Smith #2) *''Overhead'' (Brad Smith #3) *''Breakfast at Wimbledon'' (Brad Smith #4) *''Double Fault'' (Brad Smith #5) *''The Davis Cup Conspiracy'' (Brad Smith #6) *''The 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes'' (1992, Writer's Digest Books, ) *''Baker's Hawk'' (1974 Doubleday & Company, ) *''Scene & Structure: How to construct fiction with scene-by-scene flow, logic and readability'' (1993, Writer's Digest Books, ) *''Writing the Short Story - A Hands-On Program'' (1994, Writer's Digest Books ) As John Miles *''Dally with a Deadly Doll'' (1961 ACE Double D-489 with ''Somebody's Walking Over My Grave'' by Robert Arthur)

References

External links

Bibliography of Jack M. Bickham
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bickham, Jack 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Oklahoma Writers from Columbus, Ohio Deaths from lymphoma 1930 births 1997 deaths University of Oklahoma faculty Deaths from cancer in Oklahoma Writers of books about writing fiction American male novelists Novelists from Ohio