LEE, Wayne C(yril) 1917-

(Lee Sheldon)

PERSONAL:

Born July 2, 1917, in Lamar, NE; son of David Elmer (a farmer) and Rosa Belle (Deselms) Lee; married Pearl Mary Sheldon, March 17, 1948; children: Wayne Sheldon, Charles Lester. Politics: Republican. Religion: Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Hobbies and other interests: Sports (especially community boys' sports), music, singing.

ADDRESSES:

Home—P.O. Box 906, Imperial, NE 69033.

CAREER:

Farmer in Lamar, NE, 1935-51; rural mail carrier, Lamar, 1951-77; full-time writer, 1977—. Writer's Digest School, instructor, 1976-95. Men's Gospel Singers, organizer, leader, and performer; also organizer and performer with a male quartet. Military service: U.S. Army, Signal Corps, 1945.

MEMBER:

Western Writers of America (president, 1970-71), Nebraska State Historical Society (member of board of directors, 1975), Nebraska Writers Guild (president, 1974-76), South Dakota Historical Society, Kansas Historical Society, Buffalo Bill Corral of Westerners, Butterfield Trail Association and Historical Society, Toastmasters Club (president, 1964-65, 1972-73).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Named historian of the year, High Plains Preservation of History Commission, 1981; inducted into South Dakota Cowboy and Western Heritage Hall of Fame.

WRITINGS:

FICTION

Prairie Vengeance, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1954, reprinted, G. K. Hall (Thorndike, ME), 1998.

Broken Wheel Ranch, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1956.

Slugging Backstop, Dodd, Mead (New York, NY), 1957.

His Brother's Guns, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1958.

Killer's Range, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1958, reprinted, Sagebrush (Hampton Falls, NH), 1999.

Bat Masterson, Whitman Publishing (Racine, WI), 1960.

Gun Brand, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1961.

Blood on the Prairie, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1962.

Thunder in the Backfield, Franklin Watts (New York, NY), 1962.

Stranger in Stirrup, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1962.

The Gun Tamer, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1963.

Devil Wire, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1963.

The Hostile Land, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1964.

Gun in His Hand, Arcadia House (New York, NY), 1964.

Warpath West, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1965.

Fast Gun, Avalon (New York, NY), 1965.

Mystery of Scorpion Creek, Abingdon (Nashville, TN), 1966.

Brand of a Man, Avalon (New York, NY), 1966.

Trail of the Skulls, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1966, reprinted, Thorndike Press (Thorndike, ME), 1997.

Showdown at Julesburg Station, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1967.

Return to Gunpoint, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1967.

Only the Brave, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1967.

(Under pseudonym Lee Sheldon) Doomed Planet, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1967.

Sudden Guns, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1968.

Trouble at the Flying H, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1969.

Stage to Lonesome Butte, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1969.

Showdown at Sunrise, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1971.

The Buffalo Hunters, Thomas Bouregy (New York, NY), 1972.

Suicide Trail, Lenox Hill, 1972.

Wind over Rimfire, Lenox Hill, 1973, reprinted, Sagebrush (Hampton Falls, NH), 1996.

Son of a Gunman, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1973.

Law of the Prairie, Lenox Hill, 1974.

Die Hard, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1975.

Law of the Lawless, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1977.

Skirmish at Fort Phil Kearny, Avalon (New York, NY), 1977.

Gun Country, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1978.

Petticoat Wagon Train, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1978.

The Violent Man, Ace Books (New York, NY), 1978, reprinted, Sagebrush (Hampton Falls, NH), 1996.

Ghost of a Gun Fighter, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1979.

McQuaid's Gun, Avalon (New York, NY), 1980.

Shadow of the Gun, Zebra Books (New York, NY), 1981.

Guns at Genesis, Leisure Books (Norwalk, CT), 1981.

Putnam's Ranch War, Avalon (New York, NY), 1982.

Barbed Wire War, Avalon (New York, NY), 1983.

The Violent Trail, Avalon (New York, NY), 1984.

White Butte Guns, Avalon (New York, NY), 1984.

War at Nugget Creek, Avalon (New York, NY), 1985.

Massacre Creek, Avalon (New York, NY), 1985.

The Waiting Gun, Avalon (New York, NY), 1986.

Hawks of Autumn, Avalon (New York, NY), 1986.

The Gun Tamer, Curley (South Yarmouth, MA), 1991.

Arikaree War Cry, Doubleday (New York, NY), 1992.

NONFICTION

Scotty Philip: The Man Who Saved the Buffalo, Caxton Printers (Caldwell, ID), 1975.

Trails of the Smoky Hill, Caxton Printers (Caldwell, ID), 1980.

Wild Towns of Nebraska, Caxton Printers (Caldwell, ID), 1988.

Bad Men and Bad Towns, Caxton Printers (Caldwell, ID), 1993.

Deadly Days in Kansas, Caxton Printers (Caldwell, ID), 1997.

PLAYS

Bachelor Bait, Eldridge Publishing (Franklin, OH), 1951.

Lightly Turn toward Love, Schubert, 1952.

Poor Willie, T. S. Denison and Co. (Minneapolis, MN), 1954.

Hold the Phone, T. S. Denison and Co. (Minneapolis, MN), 1955.

Deadwood, T. S. Denison and Co. (Minneapolis, MN), 1956.

For Evans Sake, T. S. Denison and Co. (Minneapolis, MN), 1957.

Big News, T. S. Denison and Co. (Minneapolis, MN), 1957.

Also author of numerous other plays.

OTHER

Short stories represented in numerous anthologies. Contributor of more than 600 short stories to more than thirty periodicals.

Some of Lee's books have been translated into Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Portuguese, and Spanish.

SIDELIGHTS:

Wayne C. Lee once told CA: "My writing day begins at five a.m. and runs until noon with time out for breakfast and news, weather, and sports. Being a sport nut, I have to hear how the leagues in all sports are doing. I find that, by starting my day while the house and the world around me are quiet, I can become submerged in my writing before outside activity has an opportunity to encroach on my thinking. Once 'into' my story, it is not difficult to hold my concentration. The result is twice as much work done as when, years ago, I waited until seven a.m. to begin."

Lee later explained to CA: "Since moving from the farm to town, I keep my same writing schedule—five a.m. till noon. We spend our winters in south Texas at Harlingen where I keep my same schedule. In Texas, I have organized and am in charge of the 'Men's Gospel Singers'—twelve men—and we sing many times throughout the winter around the valley. In Imperial, I have organized a male quartet and we sing at various functions around town. I love music and singing, and these groups are a relaxing diversion from my writing."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Roundup, January, 1979.*