Richard Shaw Wheeler (1935–2019) was an American writer and former newspaper editor. He is best known for his novels set in the

American West The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the Wes ...

, including the "Barnaby Skye" series. Wheeler was the 2001 recipient of the

Owen Wister Award ''Owen Wister Award'' is an annual award from the Western Writers of America given to lifelong contributions to the field of Western literature. Named for writer Owen Wister ('' The Virginian''; 1902), it is given for "Outstanding Contributions to ...

for lifetime contributions to

Western literature Western literature, also known as European literature, is the literature written in the context of Western culture in the languages of Europe, as well as several geographically or historically related languages such as Basque and Hungarian, an ...

, and is a six-time

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 ...

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 ...

winner.

Early life

Born in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

, Richard Wheeler was raised in the suburb of

Wauwatosa Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 census. Wauwatosa is located immediately west of Milwaukee, and is a pa ...

in a family descended from New England Puritans. Following graduation from Wauwatosa High School in 1953, Wheeler moved to

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 ...

in the mid-1950s for three years. At first intending to be a playwright, he studied at the

Pasadena Playhouse The Pasadena Playhouse is a historic performing arts venue located 39 S. El Molino Avenue in Pasadena, California, United States. The 686-seat auditorium produces a variety of cultural and artistic events, professional shows, and community engage ...

, later taking acting lessons and trying his hand at being a screenwriter. While in California he supported himself by working in a Hollywood record store and as a freelance photographer. Meeting with little success, he returned to his native Wisconsin and attended the

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded when Wisconsin achieved statehood in 1848, UW–Madison ...

Professional career

Wheeler returned to the west after attending the University of Wisconsin, working at a succession of newspapers including the ''

Nevada Appeal The ''Nevada Appeal'' is a twice-weekly newspaper published in Carson City, Nevada, by Pacific Publishing Company. The paper has sister publications across northern Nevada: *''Lahontan Valley News'' & Fallon Eagle Standard (Fallon, Nevada) *''N ...

'', ''

Phoenix Gazette The ''Phoenix Gazette'' was a newspaper published in Phoenix, Arizona, United States. It was founded in 1881, and was known in its early years as the ''Phoenix Evening Gazette''. In 1889, it was purchased by Samuel F. Webb, who at the time was ...

'', ''

Oakland Tribune The ''Oakland Tribune'' is a weekly newspaper published in Oakland, California, by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of MediaNews Group. Founded in 1874, the ''Tribune'' rose to become an influential daily newspaper. With the declin ...

'', and ''

Billings Gazette The ''Billings Gazette'' is a daily newspaper based in Billings, Montana that primarily covers issues in southeast Montana and parts of northern Wyoming. Historically it has been known as the largest newspaper in Montana and is geographically one ...

''. In 1972 he switched careers and became a book editor for a number of publishers, most notably

Walker & Company Bloomsbury Publishing plc is a British worldwide publishing house of fiction and non-fiction. It is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index. Bloomsbury's head office is located in Bloomsbury, an area of the London Borough of Camden. It has a U ...

. Inspired by both the westerns he was editing and the frequent layoffs in the industry which left him with free time, Wheeler penned his first novel, ''Bushwhack'', published by Doubleday in 1978. He wrote five more novels in the 1970s and 1980s while still working as a book editor, before turning his attention to writing full-time in 1987. Two years later he won the first of five Spur Awards from the Western Writers of America with his 1989 book, ''Fool's Coach''.

Personal life

Wheeler was married to Sue Hart, a professor at

Montana State University Billings Montana State University Billings (or MSU Billings) is a public university in Billings, Montana. It is the state's third largest university. Its campus is located on 110 acres in downtown Billings. Formerly Eastern Montana Normal School at its ...

, who died in the summer of 2014. The couple divided their time between homes in

Livingston, Montana Livingston is a city and county seat of Park County, Montana, United States. It is in southwestern Montana, on the Yellowstone River, north of Yellowstone National Park. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 8,040. History T ...

, on the northern edge of

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is an American national park located in the western United States, largely in the northwest corner of Wyoming and extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U.S. Congress with the Yellowston ...

, and

Billings, Montana Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, with a population of 117,116 as of the 2020 census. Located in the south-central portion of the state, it is the seat of Yellowstone County and the principal city of the Billings Metrop ...

Published novels

Skye's West series

# Sun River (1989) #Bannack (1989) #The Far Tribes (1990) #Yellowstone (1990) #Bitterroot (1991) #Sundance (1992) #Wind River (1993) #Santa Fe (1994) #Rendezvous (1997) #Dark Passage (1998) #Going Home (2000) #Downriver (2001) #The Deliverance (2003) #

The Fire Arrow ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

(2006) #The Canyon of Bones (2007) #Virgin River (2008) #North Star (2009) #The Owl Hunt (2010) #The First Dance (2011)

Santiago Toole series

* The Final Tally (1990) * Deuces and Ladies Wild (1991) * The Fate (1992) * Incident at Fort Keogh (1996)

Rocky Mountain Company series

* The Rocky Mountain Company (1991) * Cheyenne Winter (2002) * Fort Dance (2003)

Sam Flint series

# Flint's Gift (1997) # Flint's Truth (1990) # Flint's Honor (1999)

Cletus Parr series

* Big Apple (2004) * Bad Apple (2009)

Standalone novels

* Pagans in the Pulpit (1979) * Bushwack (1978) *

Beneath the Blue Mountain Beneath may refer to: * ''Beneath'' (2007 film), directed by Dagen Merrill * ''Beneath'' (2013 film), a thriller film by Larry Fessenden *''Beneath'', a 2013 film directed by Ben Ketai * ''Beneath'' (Amoral album), 2011 *Beneath (Infant Island alb ...

(1979) *

Winter Grass Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...

(1983) * Sam Hook (1986) * Dodging Red Cloud (1987) * Richard Lamb (1987) * Stop (1988) * Fools' Coach (1989) * Where the River Runs (1990) * Montana Hitch (1990) * Badlands (1992) * Cashbox (1994) * Goldfield (1995) * Sierra (1996) * Second Lives (1997) * The Buffalo Commons (1998) * Aftershocks (1999) * Sun Mountain (1999) * Masterson (1999) * The Witness (2000) * Restitution (2001) * The Fields of Eden (2001) * Drums Ring (2001) * Eclipse (2002) * Cutthroat Gulch (2003) * The Exile (2003) * The Bounty Trail (2004) * Vengeance Valley (2004) * An Obituary for Major Reno (2004) * Trouble in Tombstone (2004) * Seven Miles to Sundown (2005) * Fire in the Hole (2005) * From Hell to Midnight (2006) * The Honorable Cody (2006) * Snowbound (2010) * Yancey's Jackpot (2010) * The Richest Hill on Earth (2011) *

Easy Street Easy Street may refer to: Film * ''Easy Street'' (1917 film), a Charlie Chaplin comedy * Easy Street (1930 film), by Oscar Micheaux, US * ''Easy Street'' (TV series), 1986–87 US sitcom Music *Easy Street (band), UK, 1970s **''Easy Street'', ...

(2012) * Anything Goes (2015) * Easy Pickings (2016) * Brass in the Desert (2016)

Awards

Spur Award for Best Western Novel This is a list of the works of fiction which have won the Spur Award for Best Western Novel: * 1953 - Novel: "Lawman" by Wayne D. Overholser using the pseudonym Lee Leighton * 1954 - Novel: "The Violent Land" by Wayne D. Overholser (2) * 1955 - No ...

- 1989 *

Spur Award for Best Novel of the West This is a list of the works of fiction which have won the Spur Award for Best Novel of the West: * 1953 - Best Historical Novel: "The Wheel and the Hearth" by Lucia Moore * 1954 - Best Historical Novel: "Journey by the River" by John Prescott * 195 ...

- 1996 * Spur Award for Best Western Novel - 2000 *

- 2001 *

for Best Original Mass Market Paperback Novel - 2005 *

for Best Western Short Novel - 2011

References

External links

Author's home page

Author's page at Macmillan BooksBibliography at Fantastic FictionBreakfast in Montana (February 2019)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wheeler, Richard S. 2019 deaths 1935 births Writers from Milwaukee People from Wauwatosa, Wisconsin University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni American newspaper editors American book editors Western (genre) writers American male non-fiction writers