Louis L'Amour left home at the age of 15 to become
a storyteller. He wanted first-hand knowledge of places he dreamed about,
places he was sure he would write about someday. After many short stories,
he published his first western novel, "Westward the Tide." Other western
novels followed, including four Hopalong Cassidys and "Hondo," a best seller
John Wayne brought to the screen. Few authors influenced Wayne's perception
of America's western frontier as much as L'Amour. Hondo was really gunfighter
Jim Roberts, survivor of the Tonto Basin(Arizona) cattlemen-sheepherders'
war. Bill Tilghman taught L'Amour how to shoot a gun.
"Tilghman was a wonderful man and a true hero of the old west," L'Amour said.
"He helped rid Oklahoma of some of its worst criminals. Jeff Milton was another
friend. He told me how he and lawyer Temple Houston talked Billy the Kid
into a target shooting contest one afternoon and beat him. I knew five other
men who had dealings with Billy."
America's favorite author of western novels was known to have read 25 to
30 books a year just in the time he spent waiting for people to keep appointments
with him. At the appointment I kept with him, L'Amour was reading a book
about China and carrying a Mickey Spillane novel.
"Does a guy have to be an avid reader to be a good writer?" I asked.
"If he wants to be a good storyteller."