by Dr. Chuck Pfeiffer with an introduction by Dr. Loren Grey

Zane Grey, the greatest storyteller of the American West, was born in Zanesville, Ohio, on January 31, 1872. His Zane ancestors had been vigorous, illustrious pioneers in America's "First West", the historic Ohio Valley. His boyhood thrill at their adventures would eventually motivate Grey to novelize his family's own story as well as the stories of Westerners - the pioneer homesteader, the farm wife, the rancher, the cowhand, the trail driver, and many more, as the great migration Westward coursed in waves across the continent.

Zane Grey wrote to live and lived to write -- surely a balance rarely attained -- until his untimely death of heart failure on October 23, 1939. When all the posthumous works were finally published, many years later, he left us almost 90 books in print, including approximately 60 Westerns.

Over the years, there have been several books published dealing with the life story of the author himself. This book, authored by Dr. Chuck Pfeiffer, a member of the Zane Grey's West Society, and one of the world's leading authorities on Zane Grey, and published by the Zane Grey's West Society, with a foreword by Grey's youngest son, Dr. Loren Grey, is destined to become one of the seminal works on this author. The book is painstakingly and meticulously researched. Dr. Pfeiffer has visited many of the actual sites that the novels were based on. He has spent hours in the field reaching these sites, interviewing locals with recollections and memories of Grey's travel in the area, has re-read the frontier romances in order to draw details, and has had access to many of Grey's handwritten diaries.

This book is the culmination of years of research and effort and deserves to be identified as the most comprehensive treatment of the author to date.