Jack Schaefer

Jack Schaefer was an American novelist and journalist best known for his literary Westerns. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1907, he studied English at Oberlin College before beginning a long newspaper career as a reporter, editor and editorial writer. He started writing fiction while working for the Virginian-Pilot, despite having little direct experience of the American West, relying instead on extensive historical research. He later settled near Santa Fe, New Mexico, and remained there until his death in 1991.

Schaefer achieved immediate success with Shane, published in 1949 after first appearing in serial form as Rider from Nowhere. Its story of a former gunfighter defending Wyoming homesteaders became a classic treatment of courage, violence and the changing frontier and inspired the celebrated 1953 film. His other works include First Blood, The Canyon, Company of Cowards, Monte Walsh and Old Ramon. The latter received a Newbery Honor in 1961, while Schaefer received the Western Literature Association’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1975.