Zane Grey is one of the country's best known western writers. His bestselling book, Riders of the Purple Sage, was published in 1912. As of 2007, more than 90 novels and 110 films using his work have been produced. A few years ago I visited the rebuilt Grey cabin in Payson, Arizona. The original burnt down in 1990. But when Dusty Richards gets back from the road, I'll have him send us a few pictures that he took of the original cabin years ago when he was a struggling writer. He sat at Zane Grey's desk and told the ghost of the writer that he would some day join him on the book store shelves. Dusty kept that promise.
The drive through the mountains was beautiful.
Grey became one of the first millionaire authors and his books helped to shape the myth of the Old West. Many writers, because of the success of Grey, followed in his footsteps and began writing about the West. In the earlier part of the 20th century, nearly one third of all the books published were western adventure or Western History.
