Mark J. Dworkin (January 21, 1946 – August 31, 2012) was a Canadian writer of American Western history and an author, notable for his publication, ''American Mythmaker: Walter Noble Burns and the Legends of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and Joaquín Murrieta''. Dworkin was a noted historian, researcher and editor, and considered an expert on Central and South American ancient cultures. In 1990, he wrote ''Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas: Mysteries of ancient civilizations of Central and South America'', a popular
textbook
A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...
, still in use in many schools.
Walter Noble Burns Biography
Mark J. Dworkin compiled ''American Mythmaker: Walter Noble Burns and the Legends of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and Joaquin Murrieta'', the biography of
Walter Noble Burns
Walter Noble Burns (1866–1932) was a writer of Western history and a Western fiction author. He was notable for his book, ''The Saga of Billy the Kid'' (1926).
Family
Born on October 24, 1866 in Lebanon, Kentucky, he was the son of Thomas E. Bu ...
. Burns's books brought Wild West legends to American culture during the 1920s, which included movies, radio programs, new books about the Wild West - and later, 1950s television shows about the Wild West. Without Burns, few Americans would likely know about
Billy the Kid
Billy the Kid (born Henry McCarty; September 17 or November 23, 1859July 14, 1881), also known by the pseudonym William H. Bonney, was an outlaw and gunfighter of the American Old West, who killed eight men before he was shot and killed at t ...
today. Dworkin showed how Burns had introduced the American West to the 1920s readers - during which time, Burns made his subjects household names.
During the 1920s, Walter Noble Burns was America’s popular chronicler of the American Old West. His newspaper reporter background enabled him with research skills that most Western writers were lacking, and his publications were marketed as true histories.
Dworkin sought to establish that Burns wasn’t just writing potboilers, but was an early practitioner of creative non-fiction. Dworkin argued that Burns intentionally created mythology for America, and significantly discussed the importance of folk tradition of the American West and Burns’s oral history work that contributed to his writings.
''American Mythmaker'' brought Mark J. Dworkin a 2012
Spur Award
Spur Awards are literary prizes awarded annually by the Western Writers of America (WWA). The purpose of the Spur Awards is to honor writers for distinguished writing about the American West. The Spur awards began in 1953, the same year the WWA wa ...
finalist nomination for best Western short nonfiction, though it was after his death.
Wild West Editing Career
Mark J. Dworkin's articles were published in ''Wild West Magazine'', ''
True West Magazine
''True West Magazine'' (alternate title: ''True West'') is an American magazine that covers the icons like Wyatt Earp, Doc Holliday, Billy the Kid, and Jesse James and relates American Old West history back to the present day to show the role conte ...
'' and several others. Dworkin served as book review editor of the ''Wild West History Association Journal''
He wrote several
Wyatt Earp
Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp (March 19, 1848 – January 13, 1929) was an American lawman and gambler in the American West, including Dodge City, Deadwood, and Tombstone. Earp took part in the famous gunfight at the O.K. Corral, during which law ...
related articles, and also about
Virgil Earp
Virgil Walter Earp (July 18, 1843 – October 19, 1905) was both deputy U.S. Marshal and Tombstone, Arizona City Marshal when he led his younger brothers Wyatt and Morgan, and Doc Holliday, in a confrontation with outlaw Cowboys at the Gunfig ...
for the Western Outlaw-Lawman History Association, WOLA.
, Worldcat.org Identity, Western Outlaw-Lawman History Association, WOLA Those articles provided well-researched facts about the
Gunfight at the O.K. Corral
The gunfight at the O.K. Corral was a thirty-second shootout between lawmen led by Virgil Earp and members of a loosely organized group of outlaws called the Cowboys that occurred at about 3:00 p.m. on Wednesday, October 26, 1881, in ...
in
Tombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a historic city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1877 by prospector Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It became one of the last boomtowns in the American frontier. The town grew si ...
on October 26, 1881.
Publications
* ''American mythmaker : Walter Noble Burns and the legends of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and Joaquin Murrieta'', by Mark J. Dworkin, 2015
* ''Mayas, Aztecs, and Incas : Mysteries of ancient civilizations of Central and South America'', by Mark J. Dworkin, 1990
External links
Worldcat Overview & works, Mark J. Dworkin''American Mythmaker: Walter Noble Burns and the Legends of Billy the Kid, Wyatt Earp, and Joaquín Murrieta'', by Mark J. Dworkin, Oxford University PressStanford University Libraries, summary of ''American Mythmaker'' by Mark J. DworkinMark J. Dworkin at Goodreads.com''American Mythmaker'', by Mark J. Dworkin at books.google.comGoogle.com search for Mark J. Dworkin''Down the Western Book Trail'', Los Angeles Westerners Corral, Spring 2016, pp 22-23
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dworkin, Mark
1946 births
2012 deaths
Western (genre) writers
Writers from Toronto
21st-century Canadian biographers
Canadian male biographers
21st-century Canadian male writers