Louis L'Amour

Louis L’Amour was an American novelist and short story writer best known for his genre-spanning works of Western Fiction. Over the course of his career, he became one of the world’s most prolific authors of all genres and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. For over six decades, L’Amour wrote more than ninety books and over thirty short stories, ranging from adventure and western fiction, to memoirs and science fiction.

L’Amour was born in Jamestown, North Dakota in 1908. His parents were Aurelia, a Canadian-American innkeeper, and Louis Charles LaMoore, a wholesale grocer and unsuccessful prospector. Louis was the last of their four children. Throughout his childhood, his family moved frequently, and his father frequently became ill due to inadequate medical care. As a result, L’Amour dropped out of high school at the age of fifteen to support his family. He embarked on a series of manual labor jobs such as a miner, a longshoreman, a bullwhacker and a lumberjack.

Subsequently, L’Amour began collaborating on short stories with his older brother, Clarence Lee. The brothers wrote stories under assumed names, each ghost-writing for the other; with Clarence often submitting Louis’s stories to magazines. Some of their stories were later published in magazines such as Thrilling Wonder Stories and Fantastic Adventures.

In 1930, L’Amour was signed by Houghton Mifflin to complete a novel, “Hondo”, a story he had been working on since childhood. Although the novel was rejected at first, it was eventually accepted to be published in 1953. Ultimately, “Hondo” became a bestseller, and it secured L’Amour’s literary success. Since then, several of his books have become bestsellers, and he has had over thirty-five individual works in print. In addition, his books have been translated into twelve languages, and they have sold over 200 million copies worldwide.

Louis Lamour was a prolific author of short stories, novellas, screenplays, novel melodynamics, and full-length novels. His popular works include pastoral westerns, intense thrillers, sentimental throwbacks, rural adventures, and even some unabashed romances. In these books, he paints vivid stories of the American West that capture the humanness of a bygone era. His realistic depiction of the American West and its diverse inhabitants propelled his rise to one of the most acclaimed authors in the world.

Although there are no records of his novels having been adapted for the big screen, L’Amour was an early adopter of technology which allowed him to write in a variety of media. Knowing that many of his readers watched television, for example, he created an episode for Wagon Train that aired in 1963. Over the years, L’Amour also wrote screenplays, including one for Blood Feud, which was broadcast in 1967 on NBC as mini-series.

His writing was heavily influenced by his time spent in the American Southwest and imaginative visions of a bygone era. He worked hard to find ways to bring his stories to life with vivid characters and captivating atmospheres. These stories often revolved around themes of adventure, self-discovery, and social justice in the American wilderness.

Louis L’Amour earned numerous awards and distinctions throughout his career, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984. He was also inducted into the National Cowboy & Western Heritage Museum Hall of Legends and the National Fishing Hall of Fame in 1995. Furthermore, several of his books have been on The New York Times Best Seller list, and he was named one of the 30 most influential Americans in the history of entertainment by People magazine in 2005.

Louis L’Amour was a multifaceted author whose works spanned generations and inspired readers from all backgrounds. Even in death, his books continue to be read, adapted, and embraced all around the world. His works will go down in history as representing the quintessential American heritage and a byproduct of his passionate pursuit of adventure and understanding of the American wild.