Critics call the American writer Luis Darbourne Lamour âWestern Legend.â After all, the works written by the author in this genre have gained worldwide fame and have sold over 250 million copies. For his contribution to national culture, he was awarded the President of the United States the Gold Medal of Congress and the Medal of Freedom. Lamur was very fond of the West of America with its amazing history and nature. He traveled a lot, collecting stories and legends about courageous and courageous people.
His characters are often quick-tempered and quick to reprisal, but at the same time they love and uphold justice. The westerns of Luis Lamur are full of adventure, danger and fierce risk. The main characters of his works, as a rule, are ordinary people: cowboys, gold miners, miners, boxers, sailors, military, participants of the Civil War of 1861-1865 who fought on the side of the northerners against slavery. They are all different, but there is something that unites them - nobility and love of freedom.
about the author
Many fans and critics noted that Louis Lamur is very similar to the heroes of his works. A tall man of strong build with a courageous weathered face and strained sinewy hands, like a cattle breeder or miner. This was not a coincidence, because in his young years, in order to earn a piece of bread, the writer had to work hard and in various professions. Wandering in search of earnings in the country and abroad, Lamur himself often got into trouble, listened to the stories of his comrades and met interesting people. This experience later came in very handy to a prolific writer, from whose pen came 86 novels, 15 collections of short stories and short stories, and 400 short stories published in many magazines around the world.
Youth
The writer was born on March 22, 1908 in the city of Jamestown (USA) in the large family of Louis Charles Lamur and Emily Darborn Lamur. His father was a veterinarian and instilled in his son a love of animals, and also taught him to box quite well, since he himself was a fan of this martial art. Subsequently, the boxing has repeatedly come in handy to the future best-selling author as a means of protection and earning in commercial fights. Luis Lamour was grateful to his mother for instilling in him a love of literature, their home library consisted of about 300 books. In addition, members of the Darborn Lamur family were regular visitors to the city library. So, according to the writer himself, he went to school with a decent bag of knowledge of history and literature.
Louis was already the seventh child in the family, so helping parents to make ends meet began with adolescence. He worked part time where he could, and at the age of fifteen he ran away from home and joined the circus troupe, where he took care of food and cleaned the elephants. So the adventures of Luis Lamour began: he had the opportunity to work as a cattle driver, an auxiliary worker on a ranch, a gold digger, a miner, a lumberjack, a loader, a grave digger and a sailor of the merchant fleet. He returned to the family after many years, a mature man on the eve of World War II. By then, relatives were already living in Oklahoma City.
Early work
Despite his adventurous life, Louis Lamour did not forget about his long-standing love of literature. At the end of the 30s, his first poems were published in a small Oklahoma state newspaper, which were later published at the expense of the author under the title Smoke from this Altar. The period from 1935 to 1938 was marked by the publication of short stories, which were later included in the collections of âNights over the Solomon Islandsâ and âWest of Singaporeâ. In 1940, after numerous failures, the first Western writer of The City That Can't Be Broken was published in New Western Magazine. The outbreak of World War II forced the aspiring writer to change his plans for life.
War years
In 1942, Louis Lamour enlisted in the US Army. After being transported across the ocean, he, as part of Patton's army, participated in battles during a march to Paris. The Rhine was already crossing with the ninth army; there is evidence that Lamur also took part in the Allied landings in Normandy. The co-workers were very fond of listening to Luisâs stories about the Wild West and his own adventures, the most interesting versions were recorded. So, contrary to military operations, the stories of Lamur continued to be published in various magazines. Having reached the rank of first lieutenant, in 1946 he was discharged and returned to New York.
Creative career
In New York City, Lamur, under the pseudonyms Tex Burns and Jim Mayo, wrote Western stories for Exciting Adventures. The stories began to be popular and brought good income, but the writer wanted more. Therefore, in the same 1946, he moved to Los Angeles, where he began the literary work that made Lamur famous throughout the world.
Using pseudonyms, he writes detective stories and adventure stories, many of which were later included in The Hills of Murder. A series of books âHopalong Kessedi and the Dashing People of Western Roadsâ, created between 1950 and 1954, was released under the pseudonym Tex Burns, and the author published the novels Yellow Bat and Utah Blaine under the pseudonym Jim Mayo. After moving to Los Angeles, Luis Lamour worked very hard. The authorâs books are becoming more and more popular, and every year he publishes three new works.
Under his own name, the author published the novel âFlow to the Westâ in 1951, and in 1953 one of the best novels by Lamur âHondoâ was released, which was filmed twice. The first time in 1953 with John Wayne in the title role and the second time in 1965, becoming a kind of television version of the first. In general, more than 30 films were shot based on the writer's works, but the films âHondoâ, âDevils in a Pink Tightsâ and the television series about the Sakett clan were considered the most successful by Louis Lamur. In 1960, the novel "Flint" was published, which was included in the list of awards "25 of the best westerns of all time."
The book Down the Hills, published in 1968, was awarded the Golden Spur Award. The novel "Bendigo Shatter", published in 1978, became a real sensation in the literary world and was named the best in the Western genre.
Louis Lamour: works and favorite characters
Since the author really believed in family values, a fortress of family ties and true friendship, a literary saga consisting of 17 novels, he dedicated the Sakett clan. The first novel tells the story of Jubal Saketta, who arrived in America with the first settlers, and the subsequent ones about his descendants.
They were never rich, they lived hard, protecting themselves and their lands from all kinds of cattle stealers and invaders of already settled lands who tried to destroy the owners and take possession of everything that they had. The main characters fought endless wars with the tribes of ferocious Indians and gangs of bandits, who were even worse. When Tell Sackett, one of the descendants of Jubal, was in great trouble, everyone from Sackett came to the rescue from different parts of America, was close and friendly with them.
The owner of the saloon, where a noisy crowd came to celebrate the victory and triumph of justice, then told his whole life that so many Saketts gathered in one place were not seen by anyone in the Wild West. And one of the friends who helped Tell said: âLet the enemies chop off on their nose that itâs worth hooking one Sackett, as the army will actually come to the rescue, consisting of Sacketts, their kindred clans and friends, and the offenders will have a place on Booth Hill ( cemetery)".
Like his beloved heroes, Lamur adored his family and friends. The relatives answered him the same, therefore, when the writer died on June 10, 1988, the family was in no hurry to report the news to the press, so as not to interfere with the people who loved him to say goodbye to their dear man. The author himself, shortly before his death, despite his illness, continued to work and said that he would live forever in his works, since he put all his love and soul into them without a trace.