Fox, Norman A., 1911-1960

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Norman Fox was born in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, May, 26, 1911, and raised in Great Falls, Montana. After graduating from Great Falls High School in 1919 he went on to work as a bookkeeper and accountant for various Great Falls firms from 1929 until 1938, when he dedicated himself to writing full time. A prolific writer of western novels, short stories, screenplays and radio scripts, Fox produced more than thirty novels and over 400 short stories before his untimely death of cancer at the age of 48. An avid supporter of other Western writers, Fox co-founded Western Writers of America and served as director and vice president of the organization. He was also an active member of the Montana Institute of Arts and was the "motivating spirit" behind meetings of Montana authors such as A.B. Guthrie, Dan Cushman, and Robert McCaig. After his divorce from his first wife, Pat, Fox married Rosalea Spaulding in 1949. Fox and his second wife spent their summers in Virginia City, Montana.

Almost all of Fox's novels use Montana and its history as a backdrop. While his earliest novels, such as Lord Six-Gun (194 ) and The Six-Gun Syndicate (194 ), fall under the category of pulp westerns, many of his later works achieved critical acclaim. Some of his numerous books are, The Thundering Trail (1944), Dead End Trail (1946), Shadow on the Range: a Realistic Tale of the Old West (1949), Stormy in the West (1950), Ghostly Hoofbeats (1952), The Badlands Beyond (1957), Rope the Wind (1958) , Reckoning at Rimbow (1959), and The Trembling Hills (1960). He also published one novel, Winchester Cut (1951), under the pseudonym Mark Sabine. This novel was later revised and published as Stranger from Arizona (1956), which was named one of the best westerns of 1956. Several of his short stories were collected in The Valiant Ones (1957). Four of Fox's novels were turned into films: Gunsmoke (1953), based on his novel Roughshod (1951); Tall Man Riding (1955); The Rawhide Years (1956); and Night Passage (1957).

Norman Fox died in Great Falls, Montana, on March 24, 1960.

From the guide to the Norman Fox Papers, 1941-1982, (Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections)

Archival Resources
Role Title Holding Repository
referencedIn Dusenberry, Verne, 1906-1966. Verne Dusenberry papers, ca. 1885-1966. Montana State University (Bozeman, Mont.). Library
referencedIn United States Sanitary Commission records. Army and Navy Claim Agency archives, 1861-1870 New York Public Library. Manuscripts and Archives Division
referencedIn Verne Dusenberry Papers, circa 1885-1966 MSU-Bozeman Library, Merrill G Burlingame Special Collections
creatorOf Fox, Norman A., 1911-1960. Papers, 1939-1960. Univerisity of Wyoming. American Heritage Center.
creatorOf Norman Fox Papers, 1941-1982 Maureen and Mike Mansfield Library Archives and Special Collections
Role Title Holding Repository
Relation Name
associatedWith Dusenberry, Verne, 1906-1966. person
correspondedWith McCaig, Robert J. person
associatedWith Montana Institute of the Arts corporateBody
associatedWith Stahl, LeRoy person
associatedWith United States Sanitary Commission corporateBody
associatedWith Western Writers of America corporateBody
Place Name Admin Code Country
United States
Subject
Authors, American
Literature
Montana
Popular literature
Western films
Western radio programs
Western stories
Western television programs
Occupation
Authors
Activity

Person

Birth 1911-05-26

Death 1960-03-24

Americans

English

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