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Luke Short's Best of the West
317 pages of excellent text. A great collection of classic stories of the west, reflecting the drama of life there as men and women struggled to experience it. First Edition.
- GenresWesterns
317 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1983
About the author
Luke Short
128 books36 followersLuke Short (real name Frederick Dilley Glidden) was a popular Western writer.
Born in Kewanee, Illinois Glidden attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two and a half years and then transferred to the University of Missouri at Columbia to study journalism.
Following graduation in 1930 he worked for a number of newspapers before becoming a trapper in Canada then later moved to New Mexico to be an archeologist's assistant.
After reading Western pulp magazines and trying to escape unemployment he started writing Western fiction. He sold his first short story and novel in 1935 under the pen name of Luke Short (which was also the name of a famous gunslinger in the Old West, though it's unclear if he was aware of that when he assumed the pen name.)
After publishing over a dozen novels in the 1930s, he started writing for films in the 40s. In 1948 alone four Luke Short novels appeared as movies. Some of his memorable film credits includes Ramrod (1947) and Blood on the Moon (1948). He continued to write novels, despite increasing trouble with his eyes, until his death in 1975. His ashes are buried in Aspen, Colorado, his home at the time of his death.
Born in Kewanee, Illinois Glidden attended the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign for two and a half years and then transferred to the University of Missouri at Columbia to study journalism.
Following graduation in 1930 he worked for a number of newspapers before becoming a trapper in Canada then later moved to New Mexico to be an archeologist's assistant.
After reading Western pulp magazines and trying to escape unemployment he started writing Western fiction. He sold his first short story and novel in 1935 under the pen name of Luke Short (which was also the name of a famous gunslinger in the Old West, though it's unclear if he was aware of that when he assumed the pen name.)
After publishing over a dozen novels in the 1930s, he started writing for films in the 40s. In 1948 alone four Luke Short novels appeared as movies. Some of his memorable film credits includes Ramrod (1947) and Blood on the Moon (1948). He continued to write novels, despite increasing trouble with his eyes, until his death in 1975. His ashes are buried in Aspen, Colorado, his home at the time of his death.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 24, 2015
Luke Short has his way of writing westerns compared to Louis L'Amour.
I liked the short stories and the way Luke presents them, especially if no westerns are on TV and I want this type of action.
I liked the short stories and the way Luke presents them, especially if no westerns are on TV and I want this type of action.
May 12, 2018
I bought this book of short stories for a buck at a pulp convention and it’s great. Luke Short wrote just simple, fun, exciting westerns. It’s too bad he’s out of print.
February 21, 2016
Western short story collection, posthumously published, of stories originally appearing in various magazines.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews