PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Distribution

Zane Grey Returns to History-Rich Lone Pine

for 42^nd Annual ZGWS Convention, October 14-17

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACT for more information or interviews:

Dr. Rosanne Vrugtman, President, Zane Grey’s West Society (ZGWS)

Email:  [email protected]

Phone:  239-913-9242

“The four shortest days of the year.”

On October 14-17, Zane Grey’s West Society members and friends will make a first visit to Lone Pine for their 42^nd Annual Convention. Many who attend view these busy convention dates as “the four shortest days of the year.”

The ZGWS mission is to promote interest in the life and works of Zane Grey (1872-1939). Considered the “Father of the Western Novel,” Grey did not originate the Western genre but indisputably popularized it. Grey penned nearly 90 titles in a variety of genres and at least 110 films were made from his stories, some of them filmed four or five times—many in the Lone Pine area.

This year’s convention read is Wanderer of the Wasteland (Harper & Brothers, 1923), set largely in Death Valley, site of the group’s 2024 After Convention Trip. Other activities will include a guided tour of the Alabama Hills, presentations by Grey-philes and expert researchers of Zane Grey’s legacy, an auction, an ice cream social/vendor fair, and the screening of two Grey-based films. The first, Wanderer of the Wasteland (RKO, 1945), stars James Warren, Richard Martin and Audrey Long. The second, Riders of the Purple Sage (20^th Century Fox, 1941), stars George Montgomery and Mary Howard.

Born in the East, in 1896 Grey obtained his degree in dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania, which he attended on a baseball scholarship. Turning down an invitation to play in the Major Leagues, he opened a dental practice in New York City and in 1905 married Lina Elise “Dolly” Roth. In pursuit of a writing career, Grey closed his dental practice in 1907, ventured out to the American West for the first time with rancher Charles J. “Buffalo” Jones, and never looked back.

Grey’s Western romances ultimately made him the world’s best-selling author and the first author to become a millionaire from his writing alone. His work still carries the distinction of being enjoyed as much by women as by men. In fact, at least 16 of his novels were first published as serials in popular women’s magazines, like Ladies Home Journal, McCall’s and Cosmopolitan. Notably, his classic Western novel, Riders of the Purple Sage (Harper & Brothers, 1912) is the only Western on the Library of Congress list of “100 Books that Shaped America.”

A true “Renaissance Man,” Grey was also a world-renowned fishing expert who is said to have fished 300 days a year. He reportedly admitted at one point: “I write so I can afford to fish.” Two of his 14 (of 16 then possible) world fishing records were for catches over 1000 lbs and all of his catches were brought in on a line. Traveling some 2.5 million miles on the world’s waterways in search of bigger fish and better fishing, Grey is credited with popularizing the sport of deep sea fishing. Though it is not widely known, he was also an enthusiastic conservationist and early proponent of preservation practices like “catch and release.”

Grey’s extraordinary popularity, which confounded many critics in his own time, led to decades of popular Western-themed radio programs, television shows, comic books and much more. WWII soldiers carried pocket-sized editions of his books, and notable Grey fans included Sir Winston Churchill, Presidents Anwar Sadat and Dwight Eisenhower, as well as the fictional Colonel Potter from the TV show M*A*S*H. Society members include fans and enthusiasts from all over the world, as well as many of the world’s leading Zane Grey experts.

Zane Grey’s West Society, an all-volunteer organization, was co-founded in 1983 by Dr. Joseph Wheeler, whose remarks via Zoom will open the 2024 convention in Lone Pine.  In furtherance of its mission, the Society not only hosts annual conventions in Grey-associated locales around the country but also publishes a quarterly journal, the Zane Grey Explorer. Another of the group’s significant undertakings is an extensive “digital archive” designed to preserve Zane Grey information for future generations of readers and researchers.

The Society invites participation from anyone interested in learning more about the eminent author Zane Grey.  Convention registration and Society membership are open to all enthusiasts.

ALSO SEE:

Zane Grey’s West Society Facebook site — www.facebook.com/ZaneGreysWestSociety

Zane Grey’s West Society Website ———- www.zgws.org