John Henry Reese (18 December 1910 – 15 August 1981) was an American author, mainly of

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

and

Crime Fiction Crime fiction, detective story, murder mystery, mystery novel, and police novel are terms used to describe narratives that centre on criminal acts and especially on the investigation, either by an amateur or a professional detective, of a crime, ...

. 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 more than three hundred short stories. His first novel ''Sheehan's Mill'', not of the

Western genre The Western is a genre set in the American frontier and commonly associated with folk tales of the Western United States, particularly the Southwestern United States, as well as Northern Mexico and Western Canada. It is commonly referred ...

, was published by Doubleday in 1943, during wartime publishing restrictions. Reese was born in Sweetwater,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, and died in Santa Maria,

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 ...

. He attended 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 1880s and 1890s and who grew up in the same environment. It was a specialized education for one job alone, the one I have."Sonnichsen, C. L. (1991) "Reese, John Henry" ''In'' Sadler, Geoffrey (ed.) (1991) ''Twentieth-Century Western Writers'' (2nd ed.) St. James Press, Chicago, 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 reporter for newspapers in Mexico. His first Western novel was ''Signal Guns At Sunup'' using the pseudonym John Jo Carpenter. He is survived by his granddaughter Kimberly who is also a published author.

Writing

Reese finished high school, but considered himself "self-taught". He began writing primarily western stories for

pulp magazines Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 to the late 1950s. The term "pulp" derives from the cheap wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed. In contrast, magazine ...

during the 1930s. His westerns appeared in such magazines as ''10 Story Western'', ''Ace High'', '' Argosy'', ''Big Book Western'', ''Dime Western Magazine'', and ''Ranch Romances''. His mysteries appeared in such magazines as '' Black Mask'', ''Detective Tales'', ''Speed Detective'', ''Super Detective'', ''Ellery Queen's'' and ''

Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine ''Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine'' (AHMM) is a bi-monthly digest size fiction magazine specializing in crime and detective fiction. ''AHMM'' is named for Alfred Hitchcock, the famed director of suspense films and television. History ''AHM ...

''. He also wrote for the pulp magazine ''Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' in the 1960s. He graduated to writing for slick and glossy magazines and sold stories to ''

The Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

'', ''

Atlantic Monthly ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher. It features articles in the fields of politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 1857 in Boston, ...

'', ''

Collier's ''Collier's'' was an American general interest magazine founded in 1888 by Peter Fenelon Collier. It was launched as ''Collier's Once a Week'', then renamed in 1895 as ''Collier's Weekly: An Illustrated Journal'', shortened in 1905 to ''Collie ...

'', and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. 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. K ...

''. He was a major freelance contributor to ''The Saturday Evening Post'' for 18 years (1944–1962). Reese was "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 The ''New York Herald Tribune'' was a newspaper published between 1924 and 1966. It was created in 1924 when Ogden Mills Reid of the ''New-York Tribune'' acquired the ''New York Herald''. It was regarded as a "writer's newspaper" and competed ...

'' 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 The University of Wyoming (UW) is a public land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, and opened in September 1887. The University of Wyoming ...

in Laramie. Several of his Western stories were adapted into movies, including ''

Good Day for a Hanging ''Good Day for a Hanging'' is a 1959 American B Western film directed by Nathan H. Juran and starring Fred MacMurray and Margaret Hayes. Plot Eddie Campbell (Robert Vaughn) and two other members of an outlaw band watch a stagecoach as it t ...

'' (1959) from the short story ''The Reluctant Hangman'', and ''

The Young Land ''The Young Land'' is a 1959 American Western film directed by Ted Tetzlaff and starring Patrick Wayne, Yvonne Craig, Dennis Hopper and Dan O'Herlihy. The cinematography was by Technicolor developer Winton C. Hoch and Henry Sharp. The film was ...

'' (1959) based upon the short story ''Frontier Frenzy''. The movie ''

Charley Varrick ''Charley Varrick'' (a.k.a.''The Last of the Independents'' and ''Kill Charley Varrick'') is a 1973 American neo-noir crime film directed by Don Siegel and starring Walter Matthau, Andrew Robinson, Joe Don Baker and John Vernon. ''Charley Varric ...

'' (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 ''The DuPont Show of the Week'' is an American television anthology drama series which aired for three seasons on NBC from September 17, 1961 to August 30, 1964. It was nominated one time for an Edgar Allan Poe Award and eight times for Primet ...

''.

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) * ''Rainmaker'', 1949. (science fiction, short story) * ''Big Mutt'', 1952. (for children) (winner 1952 ''

'' 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 ''The Looters'' is a 1967 French film starring Jean Seberg, Serge Gainsbourg and Frederick Stafford Frederick Stafford (11 March 1928 – 28 July 1979) was a Czechoslovak-born actor. Born Friedrich Strobel von Stein, he spoke fluent Czech, Ger ...

'', 1968. (a crime fiction novel) * ''Pity Us All'', 1969. (a crime fiction novel)

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reese, John H. 1910 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American children's writers American crime fiction writers Western (genre) writers Writers from Nebraska People from Buffalo County, Nebraska American people of Welsh descent People from Santa Maria, California 20th-century American male writers Novelists from California