Drevon cooks biography of william

William Everett Cook (1921 – July 1964), was a western writer who used the pen namesWill Cook,James Keene,Wade Everett and Frank Peace. Called "a master western storyteller,"^[1] Cook published dozens of short stories and 50 novels before his death at age 42.

A number of his stories and novels were turned into Hollywood westerns, including the 1961 John Ford film Two Rode Together.

Life

Born in Richmond, Indiana,^[2] Cook ran away from home at age 16 and joined the U.S.

Army cavalry^[2] before serving as a pilot in the Pacific during World War II. During the war he was severely wounded in the leg but later returned to active duty.^[2]

After the war Cook worked as a salvage worker, judo instructor, a bush pilot in Alaska, and as a deputy sheriff in California.^[2][3] Cook died of a heart attack in 1964^[3] while building a schooner in which he and his wife Thea hoped to sail around t