A Western Writer Named L. Ron Hubbard

By Jason Boog 

cattlekingforadayLg.jpgMost readers remember L. Ron Hubbard as the founder of Scientology and a science fiction writer, but one publisher just celebrated the pulp fiction author’s 30 westerns–books based on memories from his Montana childhood.

Hubbard’s publisher, Galaxy Press, attended the 2009 Western Writers of America (WWA) Conference this week, pitching Hubbard’s 80 novels and 150 pulp fiction stories written during the 1930s and ’40s. The publisher hopes to release the author’s whole pulp output over a six-year schedule.

Here’s more from John Goodwin, president of the press: “[Hubbard’s] familiarity with the real locale lets any reader really experience the excitement of another time and place … The Series represents one of the largest releases of short fiction ever published for a single author … We’re hoping to make publishing history.”