North Dakota’s Most Famous Author
Remember when reading was a thing? Let's talk about North Dakota's most famous author.
Certainly we know when it comes to rappers we have Wiz Khalifa, when it comes to actors we have Josh Duhamel, and when it comes to athletes we have Carson Wentz.
There was a simpler time when people were actually entertained by printed words. Kind of like these words you are reading right now except you were able to actually hold them in your hand.
An individual who was born in North Dakota who mastered the craft of the printed word is a man by the name of Louis L'Amour. According to Business Insider, he is the most famous author from North Dakota and it's no surprise there. The man has a lot of novels and short stories that bear his name.
His books inspired many movie adaptations as well. The Actor John Wayne, was a huge fan of L'Amour according to Legacy.com. According to Legacy.com, John Wayne loved L'Amour's short story 'The Gift of Cochise' so much that Wayne bought the rights, changed the name and turned it into a movie. The movie was called 'Hondo.'
'The Burning Hills,' another novel written by L'Amour, who was born in Jamestown, also was made into a movie according to Legacy.com.
Other works from L'Amour that inspired movies (or TV movies) include 'Heller with a Gun,' and 'Crossfire Trail.'
According to an obituary in the NY Times for L'Amour, he had started writing under the name Tex Burns because apparently according to L'Amour, "no editor believed that the name L'Amour could ever appear on a Western story."
After his story, 'The Gift of Cochise' was turned into a popular John Wayne movie, he began using his real name.