Prof writes biography of wild, colorful author Zane Grey

Reproduced with permission from the University of Illinois Press

9:08 a.m., Nov. 7, 2005--The wild and colorful life of author Zane Grey, whose novels helped drive the popularization of things Western in what remains an extraordinarily important part of American mythology, is the subject of a new biography by Thomas H. Pauly, professor of English at the University of Delaware.

The book, Zane Grey: His Life, His Adventures, His Women, has been published by the University of Illinois Press and now is available at the University of Delaware Bookstore.

Pauly's book is the first full-length biography of Grey to appear in more than 30 years and is the first to take a no-holds-barred look at the most successful American writer of the 1920s, a man who helped shape the folklore of the Old West and who played a significant role in the early development of the film industry. Pauly will discuss his new book from noon-1 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 15, in the Class of 1941 Lecture Room of the Morris Library as part of its Scholar in the Library Series.

Grey had an unquenchable thirst for adventure, with camping trips along the back trails of the Grand Canyon providing inspiration for his initial foray into Westerns and months-long sport fishing trips to the Galapagos Islands, New Zealand, Tahiti and Australia serving as a backdrop for nine lesser known but well-written works on angling.

He also had a passion for amorous exploration, often taking women other than his wife, Dolly, on his backpacking excursions and sailing trips.

“Zane Grey was best known as an author of Westerns, but he also was a world traveler and a world-class fisherman,” Pauly, who spent five years writing the book, said.

Pauly, a native of Montana who shares with Grey a deep love of angling, said that was what originally interested him in the author. “I was intrigued by the fact that he held dozens of world records for the largest saltwater species caught with rod and reel,” Pauly said. “I was interested in how Grey became interested in fishing, how he got the world records, which were achieved in a period in which there were no designated referees to validate the catch.”

Part of the fishing fame was self-promotion, Pauly found, and some of it was the fact that he was one of the few people seeking such records. “He was fishing the world when not many people were,” Pauly said, “and he was a pioneer, using the leading equipment at the time to catch large fish on rod and reel. In fact, he was the first person to catch a fish of more than 1,000 pounds on rod and reel.”

As Pauly began researching Grey, he came across a huge trove of materials--letters, journals and photographs--that had not been published and were not widely known.

“Grey was away from wife for very long periods of time, but they wrote nearly every day and saved the correspondence,” Pauly said. “That provided me a pretty unusual insight into the life of someone who, for all his fame, was not really that well known.”

Born Pearl Zane Grey in 1872, the author grew up in Zanesville, Ohio, a town named for one of his ancestors, Ebenezer Zane, a pioneer who fought in the Revolutionary War.

His early life was shaped by the financial difficulties suffered by his father, a dentist, who trained his son to follow in his footsteps.

In 1893, Grey enrolled at the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied dentistry but was more focused on playing college baseball with an eye to a professional career. That did not pan out and Grey disliked dentistry, so at age 29 he began writing books as a means of expressing his interests. He was 31 when his first book was published, an advanced age for a novelist.

Grey married Lina Elise “Dolly” Roth in 1905, and their honeymoon trip to the Grand Canyon proved to be a turning point in his career as a writer. In the next several years, Grey returned to the region for hunting in the back country and was deeply moved by the magnificence of Monument Valley and the majesty of Rainbow Bridge.

Thomas H. Pauly, professor of English

“That is what inspired him to become a writer of Westerns,” Pauly said of those journeys.

In culling through the author’s correspondence, Pauly said he felt a special bond because he, too, has hiked many of the same back trails Grey describes.

Grey was 38 when his first Western, Heritage of the Desert, was published in 1910. That kicked off a most remarkable run, and in nine of the 10 years from 1915 through 1924, Grey had a new novel among the top 10 best sellers throughout the entire year.

Both he and the movie industry benefited from healthy cross marketing, with Grey’s works often hitting the screen before publication to drive demand for his books.

“At this time, the Western had moved into a new level of cultural significance,” Pauly said. “Grey’s success as a writer of best sellers increased significantly by the tie-in he had with the movie industry.”

Pauly said Grey would write a book, give the text to Jesse Lasky, co-founder of Paramount, who would then prepare a script and do a quick shoot. “The movie would be out before the book itself and would prepare the way for the book to be an instant best seller,” Pauly said.

As his wealth increased, Grey began taking more and more ambitious trips, often sailing to such far-flung spots as the Galapagos and Australia. He often took women along with him, sometimes one and sometimes three or four.

Dolly was well aware of his amorous adventures and, indeed, Pauly said some of the women were actually her relatives. He would confide in his wife when he was having relationship difficulties with one or more of the girlfriends, and she would offer advice.

Theirs was an “open marriage” long before the term came into use, Pauly said.

“His was such amazing, interesting and diversified life,” Pauly said, “and the wealth of material available has enabled me to document it in such amazing detail.”

Pauly said the book includes a variety of interesting photographs of Grey drawn from a massive collection.

The book has gotten strong advance reviews, including this from Joe L. Wheeler, co-founder and executive director of Zane Grey’s West Society: "Much has been written about Zane Grey in the century since his first book was published. Sadly, very little of it will stand the test of time. Thomas Pauly's book, on the other hand, ranks with the best that has ever been written on the subject. It is thoroughly researched, well documented, and fascinating. Quite simply, it is a masterpiece. A must-read for every serious student of the Old West."

Pauly is the author of other books on Elia Kazan and the historical background of the musical Chicago. He received a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley.

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