Tom Curry (writer)

Thomas Albert Curry (1900–1976[1]), better known as Tom Curry, was an 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.[2]

Tom Curry
Born
Thomas Albert Curry

(1900-11-04)November 4, 1900
Hartford, Connecticut
DiedOctober 7, 1976(1976-10-07) (aged 75)
Norwalk, Connecticut
Alma materColumbia University
OccupationWriter
Years active1923–1974
RelativesHelen Curry (sister)
Frederick Robert Buckley (brother-in-law)

Early life

Curry was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on November 4, 1900. Thomas attended Columbia College in 1920 and graduated in 1922.[1] In 1923, he worked as a crime reporter for William Randolph Hearst's newspaper the New York American.[3] Some of his early crime stories were taken from this experience.[4]

Tom Curry's sister was actress Helen Curry who was married to fellow pulp fiction author F.R. Buckley.[3]

Writing career

His was paid $25.00 for his first story to be published, "Diamond in the Rough", which appeared in the March 1921 edition of pulp magazine People's Favorite[5]

Curry's stories have appeared in over 400 pulp magazines including Argosy, Black Mask, The Blue Book Magazine, Short Stories and several Thrilling Publications including Texas Rangers,[6] Thrilling Adventures, Thrilling Ranch Stories and Thrilling Western[7][8]

The Rio Kid

In 1939 he created his most well known character, The Rio Kid, bringing an element of historical fiction to the genre with his lead character interacting with actual historical events and people. This series had its own magazine devoted to it from 1939 through 1953[7]

As was not uncommon in the genre, in addition to writing under his own name Curry would also write under pseudonyms including Jackson Cole, Bradford Scott (house names for Texas Ranger Magazine) and John Benton (house name for Thrilling Publications[5] and sometimes ghostwrite for others such as Romer Zane Grey, eldest son of Zane Grey.[7]

He was a prominent member of Western Writers of America for 50 years.[3]

Selected works
  • The Bandits Of Boise
  • The Buffalo Hunters - A Rio Kid Western
  • Blood on the Plains - A Rio Kid Western
  • Captain Mesquite
  • Chaparral Marauders (1939)
  • Colorado Gold
  • The Comstock Load
  • Drifter
  • From an Amber Block (1930)
  • Gunfighters Way
  • Gunfighters Holiday
  • Guns Of Dodge City
  • Hate Along The Rio
  • Hell's Dimension (1931)
  • Kit Carson's Way
  • Leadville Avengers - A Rio Kid Western
  • Marshal Of Wichita
  • The Montana Vigilantes - A Rio Kid Western (1941)
  • The Mormon Trail
  • On To Cheyenne
  • Outlaws Brand
  • Pards of Buffalo Bill - A Rio Kid Western (1941)
  • Raiders of the Valley
  • Range Of Doom
  • Riding For Custer
  • Round Up Guns
  • The Trail Blazers - A Rio Kid Western
  • Wagons To California

References
  1. "Thomas A. Curry, Writer Of Western Novels, Dies". New York Times. October 8, 1976.
  2. "Western Pulp Writers". CowboyJamboreeMagazine.com. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
  3. Tom Curry - Author, Engineer, Sportsman PulpFlakes
  4. "Existentialism, Film Noir, and Hard-Boiled Fiction". Cambria Press. Retrieved March 21, 2017 – via Google Books.
  5. G. M. Farley, Tom Curry - A Biography, 1975, The Zane Grey Collector
  6. Nick Carr, The Western Pulp Hero: An Investigation Into the Psyche of an American Legend, 1989, Starmont House, Inc.
  7. John Dinan, Sports in the Pulp Magazines, 1998, McFarland & Company, Inc.
  8. Tom Curry Fiction Mag Index
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