James J. Griffin (born 1949) is an American author of traditional western and Texas Ranger novels. Some of his series include the Jim Blawcyzk Texas Ranger stories, Cody Havlicek novels, the A Ranger Named Rowdy series. and the Lone Star Ranger series of Young Adult western novels. He is also a contributor to the Western Fictioneers' collaborative series, Wolf Creek. He is an enthusiast and former collector of Texas Rangers historical artefacts, and has contributed much material to the Waco Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum.
Griffin was educated at Notre Dame High School in West Haven, Connecticut, from where he progressed to the nearby Southern Connecticut State University.
The Outlaw Josey Wales is a 1976 American film set during and after the American Civil War. It was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood, with Chief Dan George, Sondra Locke, Bill McKinney and John Vernon. The film tells the story of Josey Wales, a Missouri farmer whose family is murdered by Union militants during the Civil War. Driven to revenge, Wales joins a Confederate guerrilla band and makes a name for himself as a feared gunfighter. After the war, all the fighters in Wales' group except for him surrender to Union officers, but they end up being massacred. Wales becomes an outlaw and is pursued by bounty hunters and Union soldiers as he tries to make a new life for himself.
The Lone Ranger is a fictional masked former Texas Ranger who fought outlaws in the American Old West with his Native American friend Tonto. The character has been called an enduring icon of American culture.
Roy Rogers was an American singer, actor, and television host. Following early work under his given name, first as co-founder of the Sons of the Pioneers and then as an actor, the rebranded Rogers then became one of the most popular Western stars of his era. Known as the "King of the Cowboys", he appeared in over 100 films and numerous radio and television episodes of The Roy Rogers Show. In many of his films and television episodes, he appeared with his wife, Dale Evans; his Golden Palomino, Trigger; and his German Shepherd, Bullet. His show was broadcast on radio for nine years and then on television from 1951 through 1957. His early roles were uncredited parts in films by fellow cowboy singing star Gene Autry and his productions usually featured a sidekick, often Pat Brady, Andy Devine, George "Gabby" Hayes, or Smiley Burnette. In his later years, he lent his name to the franchise chain of Roy Rogers Restaurants.
Lonesome Dove is a 1985 Western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the first published book of the Lonesome Dove series and the third installment in the series chronologically. It was a bestseller and won the 1986 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. In 1989, it was adapted as a TV miniseries starring Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall, which won both critical and popular acclaim. McMurtry went on to write a sequel, Streets of Laredo (1993), and two prequels, Dead Man's Walk (1995) and Comanche Moon (1997), all of which were also adapted as TV series.
The Lonesome Dove series is a series of four western fiction novels written by Larry McMurtry and the five television miniseries and television series based upon them.
John Joel Glanton was an early settler of Arkansas, a Texas Ranger and noted soldier in the Mexican–American War, and the leader of a notorious gang of scalp-hunters in Northern Mexico and the Southwestern United States during the mid-19th century. Contemporary sources also describe him as a murderous outlaw and prominent participant in the Texas Revolution. He appears as a violent figure in the works of the prominent Western writers Larry McMurtry and Cormac McCarthy.
Comanche Moon (1997) is a western novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the fourth and final book he published in the Lonesome Dove series. In terms of chronology, it is the second installment of the narrative. A Comanche Moon in Texas history was a full moon in autumn which permitted Comanche warriors to ride by night journeying southward to raid Mexico for livestock and captives.
Texas Rangers most commonly refers to:
Dead Man's Walk is a 1995 novel by American writer Larry McMurtry. It is the third book published in the Lonesome Dove series but the first installment in terms of chronology. McMurtry wrote a fourth segment to the Lonesome Dove chronicle, Comanche Moon, which describes the events of the central characters' lives between Dead Man's Walk and Lonesome Dove. The second novel in the Lonesome Dove series was the 1993 sequel to the original, called Streets of Laredo. Dead Man’s Walk was later adapted into a three-part miniseries of the same name, which aired in May 1996.
Robert E. Bray was an American film and television actor known for playing the forest ranger Corey Stuart in the CBS series Lassie, He also starred in Stagecoach West and as Mike Hammer in the movie version of Mickey Spillane's novel My Gun Is Quick (1957).
The Comancheros is a 1961 American CinemaScope Western film directed by Michael Curtiz, based on a 1952 novel of the same name by Paul Wellman, and starring John Wayne and Stuart Whitman. The supporting cast includes Ina Balin, Lee Marvin, Nehemiah Persoff, Bruce Cabot, Jack Elam, Joan O'Brien, Patrick Wayne, and Edgar Buchanan. Also featured are Western-film veterans Bob Steele, Guinn "Big Boy" Williams, and Harry Carey, Jr. in uncredited supporting roles.
Notre Dame High School (NDWH) is a private, Roman Catholic, all-male college preparatory school located in West Haven, Connecticut, a coastal suburb of New Haven, Connecticut.
Elmer Kelton was an American author, known for his Westerns. He was born in Andrews County, Texas.
The Three Mesquiteers is the umbrella title for a Republic Pictures series of 51 American Western B-movies released between 1936 and 1943. The films, featuring a trio of Old West adventurers, was based on a series of Western novels by William Colt MacDonald. The eponymous trio, with occasional variations, were called Stony Brooke, Tucson Smith and Lullaby Joslin. John Wayne, who played Stony Brooke in eight of the films in 1938 and 1939, was the best-known actor in the series. Other leads included Bob Livingston, Ray "Crash" Corrigan, Max Terhune, Bob Steele, Rufe Davis and Tom Tyler.
Peter Baptisto Germano was an American author of short stories, novels, and television scripts. He began his career with short stories. He wrote articles documenting the Marines in World War II as a combat correspondent. He wrote novels, most of which were westerns, but also wrote science fiction. And, as television became ever-present in American culture, Germano wrote numerous television scripts for western, science-fiction, drama, and cartoon series.
Lonesome Dove is a 1989 American epic Western adventure television miniseries directed by Simon Wincer. It is a four-part adaptation of the 1985 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry and is the first installment in the Lonesome Dove series. The novel was based upon a screenplay by Peter Bogdanovich and McMurtry. The miniseries stars an ensemble cast headed by Robert Duvall as Augustus McCrae and Tommy Lee Jones as Woodrow Call. The series was originally broadcast by CBS from February 5 to 8, 1989, drawing a huge viewing audience, earning numerous awards, and reviving both the television Western and the miniseries.
Dylan McIlrath is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for, and captain of the Hershey Bears of the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract for the Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played junior hockey for the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League (WHL) and was drafted by the New York Rangers, 10th overall at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. McIlrath is of majority Scottish descent.
Arthur Joseph Griffin is an American former professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers.
Thomas Albert Curry (1900–1976), was a 20th-century American pulp fiction writer who began writing crime and detective stories but went on to become one of the more prolific western writers in the genre.
The Lone Star Ranger was a 1915 novel by Zane Grey: