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Many of his later novels relate to the “Old West,” including his most popular novel: “Riders of the Purple Sage” published in 1912 (copy included) which is considered one of the most influential western novels and has been called “the most popular western novel of all time.” It is on the Library of Congress’s “Books that Shaped America” list and remains popular today. It has also been adapted into multiple films, including a 1925 adaptation starring “King of Cowboys” Tom Mix and the most recent adaptation from 1996 starring award winning actor Ed Harris.
He wrote around 90 books, including 60 westerns and books about his hunting and fishing experiences, along with many more short stories. Most were westerns. His
tales were adapted into well-over 100 films along with the television series the Zane Grey Show and Zane Grey Western Theatre. His work also inspired other authors and screenwriters. Grey’s “The Lone Star Ranger” (1914) became an inspiration for the famous “Long Ranger” for example. Thus, Grey was one of the most influential American writers in shaping the mythology and romanticized legends of the American frontier in popular culture in the early 20th century and the western genre for generations to come. He was highly successful and became one of the first authors to become a millionaire through their writing. Among his fans was President Dwight D. Eisenhower who ranked Grey at
the top of his list of favorite authors. His work was so popular, that it was claimed sales of Grey’s book were only bested by the Bible and the Boy Scout Handbook. Upon his death the “Herald Tribune” wrote that “This was a great writer, rich in invention, prodigal in his action, juicily romantic.”
He was not just some Eastern gentleman writing about the West from far away, Gray was an avid outdoorsman and sportsman and traveled to the West in 1906 and experienced what it was like to spend days in the saddle under the searing western sun, hunted various game (including bears and mountain lions), traveled with western icons like Charles “Buffalo” Jones (the subject of “The Last of the Plainsmen”), and befriended members of the tribes of the American Southwest and learned about their cultures. Though many of his depictions of Native Americans are stereotypical and degrading,
he was sympathetic to the plight of Native Americans and their mistreatment, which he covered in “The Vanishing American” which plays on the “vanishing race” and “noble savage” tropes and draws attention to the mistreatment of Native Americans by the government. He was also an accomplished angler and influenced sport fishing.