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DEAN OWEN: A Checklist,
by Steve Lewis, James Reasoner, Victor Berch & Bill Pronzini. Dean Owen, aka Dudley Dean as well as a handful of other pen names, as you will see below, was born Dudley Dean McGaughy in Rialto, California, or at least that is what you will read in Twentieth-Century Western Writers, Second Edition. Radio and television editor of a Hollywood trade paper Twentieth goes on to say; radio writer. Allen J. Hubin in Crime Fiction IV adds the information that he was born in 1909 and died in 1986. Victor’s research shows, however, that according to Social Security records, Dudley Dean McGaughey (note the correct spelling) was born April 2, 1909, in Covington, TN, a cotton raising center. He was the son of Herbert Dana McGaughey and [Mary] Leora McGaughey. According to his death record [died October 3, 1986 in Laguna Beach, CA] his mother’s maiden name was Evens. That seems to be the origin of his pseudonym, Hodge Evens.  However, according to the
1910 and 1920 US Census, McGaughey was born in 1906 rather than 1909,
and he enlisted in the US Army on February 19, 1943. Somewhere
along the line he seems to have chopped off a couple of years, and
perhaps his birthplace was fudged at the same time. The
evidence is solid but not wholly conclusive. Bill points out that
several bios in both Monarch and Popular Library titles also state that
he
was born in Rialto, and that he spent his early years at the Clark
Ranch in the San Bernardino mountains. After college, according to the paperback biographies, he devoted himself to the writing of radio serials and magazine stories, and then did the previously mentioned stint with a Hollywood trade paper. Neither the dates nor the name of the publication are known. Dean Owen, the pseudonym he most often used, was then a full-time freelance writer from the early 1950s until his death. According to copyright renewal records, after he died, his wife, Katherine, renewed a couple of titles, so at least we know he was
married.
His first stories and novels were westerns, and he continued to write them throughout his career. While he gradually also began to produce crime and detective fiction, the quantity does not at all compare with the number of pages of westerns he wrote. To make ends meet, one must assume, in the 1960s he turned to the genre of adult fiction, churning out a long list of “sleazy” but non-explicit novels for Beacon under the name of Dean McCoy. In the 1970s and on, unless his work was hidden under pseudonyms we have not yet uncovered, he wrote only western fiction. As we learn more, it will be included here.  As by Dean Owen: Juice Town. Monarch 290, pbo, 1962. [Incorrectly listed as only a marginal entry in Crime Fiction IV. It is definitely a crime novel.] Go here for Steve’s review. Girl Possessed. Gold Star IL7-41, pbo, 1964. Hec Ramsey. Award AN1169, pbo, 1973. [Novelization of the TV series starring Richard Boone.] As by Dudley Dean: Lila My Lovely. Gold Medal 1014, pbo, July 1960. UPDATE. From Juri Nummelin comes the following information: There is a
Dudley Dean crime novel that has apparently apparently published only
in Finland. It’s called Hot
Line or Kuuma linja in
Finnish, and it doesn’t show in any of the other bibliographies I’ve
been able to check. It was published in Finnish in 1969 in the
 Puuma paperback series (Puuma meaning
“cougar”). The book is
actually quite good, and it amazes me how a guy like Dean Owen couldn’t
sell it any place. Maybe there wasn’t enough sex to include it in some
of the adult lines he wrote for. The book is
about a guy who cleans up a town. While the story line
sounds much like Juice Town,
this fellow’s name is not the same as the guy in that book. He’s
a journalist, and he comes to a small California town that’s known to
be corrupted. He finds his former fiancée a drug addict
and a prostitute and he goes to action. When I asked James R.
about it a while ago, he was pretty sure that this hasn't been
published under a different title. I didn’t even know about Juice Town when I researched Hot Line.
It is of course possible, that this isn’t really by Dean Owen, but it sure reads like Owen: fast and tough. And given the many confirmed cases of Finnish-only paperbacks I don't think we have to suspect this one. (James R. should’ve remembered, because he helped me with it, and I think I've sent him a copy.) Comment [James]: I went to my shelves and sure enough a copy of Kuuma linja is there, along with some other Finnish crime novels by American authors. The character names are still in English. The hero is Ed Kelleran, and others who appear are Quince, Dillworth, Campon, Brandy, Vinnie, and Shamrock. It takes place in a town I think is called Fairview Heights. (That’s been changed a little in translation, but that looks like what it was.) And if you wondering if the cover just happened to be a previously unknown piece of Robert McGinnis art, so were we. Who else to ask but Art Scott: “It’s not McGinnis, it’s Ron Lesser. One of his nicer covers, but not one I’ve seen before.”  As by Owen Dudley: The Deep End. Ace Double D-195, pbo, 1956. [Paired with ROBERT COLBY The Quaking Widow.] Murder for Charity. Ace Double D-231, pbo, 1957. [Paired with EDWARD RONNS Point of Peril.] Run If You Can. Ace Double D-439, pbo, 1960. [Paired with DUANE DECKER The Devil’s Punchbowl.] As by Hodge Evens: Three for Passion. Falcon #24, digest pbo, 1952. Yellow-Head. Falcon #33, digest pbo, 1952. [Not listed in Crime Fiction IV as a crime novel. It should be.] Sherry. Beacon B393, pbo, 1961. [Also not listed in Crime Fiction IV as a crime novel, and it should be.]
CRIME PULP FICTION - “Deuce for Death” New Detective Magazine, July 1945. “Obit for a Killer” Detective Story Magazine, August 1945. “ Dressed to Kill” New Detective Magazine, July 1946. “A Good Act” Detective Story Magazine, September 1947. “ Man on a Rock” Detective Tales, February 1948. “Hair of His Head” Hollywood Detective, May 1948. “Kill Me Never” Thrilling Detective, October 1950. “Morning for Terror” Popular Detective, May 1951. “Moment of Murder” Thrilling Detective, June 1952. “Death Rides This Road!” Dime Detective, February 1953. WESTERN NOVELS As by Dean Owen: Guns to the Sunset. Phoenix Press, hc, 1948. Avon 878, pb, 1960.  The Man from Boot Hill. Ace Double D-12, pbo, 1953. [Paired with DAN J. STEVENS Wild Horse Range.] Point of a Gun. Popular Library 538, pbo, November 1953. Rifle Pass. Popular Library 583, pbo, 1954. Popular Library G370, pb, September 1959. - Originally appeared as “Tombstone for Rifle Pass” in Thrilling Western, May 1953. Brush Rider. Popular Library Eagle EB-33, pbo, January 1955. Popular Giant G388, pb, 1959. - Originally appeared in Texas Western Magzine, May 1953. The Gunpointer. Popular Library 788, pbo, 1956. Popular Library SP364, pb, 1965. Last-Chance Range. Popular Library 802, pbo, 1957. Popular Library SP326, pb, 1965. This Range Is Mine. Avon T-348, pbo, 1959. A Killer’s Bargain. Hillman, pbo, 1960. [Listed in Crime Fiction IV but a western only.] Manor, pb, 1973, 1975.  Rebel Ramrod. Hillman 178, pbo, 1960. Manor 12466, pb, 1974. Pistol Belt. Monarch 204, pbo, 1961. Rebel of Broken Wheel. Monarch 218, pbo, October 1961. [Novelization of TV series The Rebel.] The Rincon Trap. Ace Double M-138, pbo, 1963. [Paired with FRANK WYNNE Call Me Hazard.] Ace Double 72525, 2nd pr., [Paired with the same title above.] Rawhider from Texas. Monarch 401, pbo, December 1963. The Latchy Gun. Avon F223, pbo, 1965. Red Rock Rifle. Avon F228, pbo, November 1965. Gun Down in Quintana. Banner Paperback B40-101, pbo, February 1967. Guns of Spring. Banner B40-106, pbo, 1967. Bonanza #1: Winter Grass. Paperback Library 52-726, pbo, July 1968. [Novelization of TV series.] Bonanza #2: Ponderosa Kill. Paperback Library 52-757, pbo, 1968. [Novelization of TV series.]  Lone Star Roundup. Ace Double G-742, pbo, 1968. [Paired with TOM WEST Write His Name in Gunsmoke.] Ace Double 48851, 2nd pr., 1972. [Paired with the same title above.] The Skull Riders. Ace Double 76900, pbo, 1969. [Paired with MERLE CONSTINER The Man Who Shot the Kid.] Ace 76901, 2nd pr. [First publication in solo format.] The McMasters. Award A544S, pbo, 1970. [Novelization of film.] Golden Empire. Curtis 07343, pbo, 1971. - Reprints the Rio Kid novel of the same title from the pulp magazine Rio Kid Western, October 1947. Gun Country. Ace Double 79117, pbo, 1971. [Paired with TOM WEST Sweetgrass Valley Showdown.] The Men from Shiloh: Lone Trail for the Virginian. Lancer 74-775, pbo, 1971. [Novelization of TV series The Virginian; very scarce.] The Outlaws. Award AS1131, pbo, 1973. Award AQ1616, 2nd pr., 1976. Brute Brasada. Ace, pbo, 1974.  The Carnady Feud.
Manor, pbo, 1974.Manor, 2nd pr., 1977. Sundown Gun. Manor, pbo, 1974. Triple Target. Ace, pbo, 1975. Kingsnake. Zebra, pbo, 1976. [Very scarce.] Thunder Hill. Ace, pbo, 1981. Latigo: Trackdown. Popular Library, pbo, 1981. Latigo #2: Vengeance Trail. Popular Library, pbo, 1981. Latigo #3: Dead Shot. Popular Library 04690, pbo, 1981. Latigo #4. Double Eagle. Popular Library, pbo, 1982. NOTE: This series is based on “Latigo,” the cartoon strip by Stan Lynde. From the cover of #1: “Son of a trapper and an Indian princess, Latigo vowed he would never again draw blood after the carnage of the Civil War. Then he returned to find his home a smouldering ruin and his folks forever silent, murdered by a ruthless railroad tycoon and his hired guns. That was the day Latigo hit the trail to vengeance – the day a legend was born in the Montana hills.” Comment [James]: I remember reading Lynde’s Latigo comic strip when it first came out. It was a much more serious strip than Rick O’Shay, which Stan Lynde also did. While the Latigo books that Owen wrote do have sex scenes in them, they are not as graphic as the ones in, say, the Longarm or Slocum books. More like the level of explicitness found in a Lassiter or Sundance novel. So I would say they would have to be classified as Adult Westerns. Obviously, Owen expanded quite a bit on the comic strip source material.  As by Dudley Dean: Ambush at Rincon. Gold Medal 318, pbo, July 1953. The Man from Riondo. Gold Medal 436, pbo, 1954. Gold Medal s1216, 2nd pr., 1962. Gold Medal k1675, 3rd pr., Gold Medal R2184, 4th pr., 1970. Gold Medal 14231, pb, November 1981? [There may be as many as seven printings in all.] Song of the Gun. Gold Medal 471, pbo, March 1955. Gold Medal 925, 2nd pr., September 1959. The Broken Spur. Gold Medal 511, pbo, 1955. The Diehards. Gold Medal 584, pbo, June 1956. Tough Hombre. Gold Medal 601, pbo, August 1956. Six-Gun Vengeance. Crest 154, pbo, December 1956.  Border Renegade.
Crest 177, pbo, July 1957.Gun in the Valley. Gold Medal 655, pbo, 1957. Lawless Guns. Gold Medal 882, pbo, May 1959. Trail of the Hunter. Berkley Y824, pbo, 1963. Berkley X1744, 2nd pr., September 1969. Cross of Rope. Berkey Y852, pbo, 1963. Berkley X1794, 2nd pr., 1970. Gun the Man Down. Gold Medal R2388, pbo, February 1971. Gold Medal M3183, pb, Diamond Deuce. Five Star, hc, February 2000. Leisure 95431, pb, October 2004. As by Owen Evens - Chainlink. Ballantine 240, pbo, 1957. Ballantine 670, 2nd pr., 1962.  As by Les Savage, Jr. & Dudley Dean - Gun Shy. Gold Medal 912, pbo, August 1959. - Reprinted as Table Rock, as by Les Savage, Jr., hc, Walker & Co., May 1993. - [As above] Leisure 95623, pb, November 2005. Comment [James]: The following information is taken from Elmer Kelton’s introduction to the Walker edition of Table Rock. (It is also in the recent Leisure paperback.) When western author Les Savage died, he was only 35 years old. Five months before his death, he had completed the manuscript for Table Rock. His agent, August Lenniger, did not believe it was publishable in the form that Savage had written it, and he gave it to McGaughey to rewrite. However (and this is new to me), an editor’s note in the Walker edition of Table Rock states that Lenniger gave McGaughey the outline that Savage had written for the book, not the manuscript itself, and that the resulting Gun Shy was written by McGaughey from that outline. That would mean none of the writing in Gun Shy was Savage’s work, only the plot, and that was changed considerably by McGaughey from the outline. As by Jackson Cole - White Gold of Texas. Popular Library 50-458, pbo, 1967. - Reprints the Jim Hatfield novel of the same title from the pulp magazine Texas Rangers, May 1947. Crown for Azora. Popular Library 00695, pbo, April 1976. - Reprints the Rio Kid novel of the same title (as by Dean Owen) from the pulp magazine Rio Kid Western, July-August 1946.  As by Lincoln Drew - Die in the Saddle. Permabook M-3063, pbo, 1956. Yellow Rope. Permabook M-3107, pbo, February 1958. Rifle Ranch. Permabook M-3120, pbo, July 1958. Comment: This is a relatively unknown pen name for Owen. Victor has verified through copyright records that all three books were registered to Dudley Dean McGaughey. As by Alex Hawk - Pecos Swap. Paperback Library 63-182, pbo, 1969. Blood Trail. Paperback Library 63-286, pbo, 1970. Comment [James]: Alex Hawk was a house name used by Brian Garfield, Elmer Kelton, and Giles Lutz, among other, unconfirmed authors.  As by Brett Sanders
-Hawk. Award AN1186, pbo, 1974. Hawk #2: Vengeance Gun. Award AN1258, pbo, 1974. Hawk #3: Blood Bait. Award AN1327, pbo, 1974. Hawk #4. Shootout at Las Cruces. Award AQ1625, pbo, 1974. As by Brian Wynne - Gunslick Territory. Ace Double 48885, pbo, 1973. [Paired with JOHN CALLAHAN Loner with a Gun.] Comment: Brian Wynne was the pen name that Brian Garfield used to write a series of eight highly regarded western novels about Marshal Jeremy Six of Spanish Flat, Arizona. According to a posting by Fred Blosser on Ed Gorman’s blog, when Garfield said good-bye to the series, Ace attempted to continue it with another writer, whom Fred does not name, but who was Dean Owen. Gunslick Territory was packaged as the ninth in the series, but according to Fred, it is “notably inferior to Garfield’s novels.” [Reference: April 24, 2004, but the blog is no longer online. A Google search for a cache of the original webpage can be used to locate it. Fred’s source is a telephone interview he taped with Brian Garfield in 1997. ] Update: Here is the complete story, as far as the truth will ever be known, as related by Brian Garfield in an email to Steve on April 11, 2006: I don’t know
if there’s ever been a primary published source for the fact that
Dudley Dean [Owen] McGaughey wrote Gunslick
Territory. If Donald A. Wollheim were still alive, he’d be
the truly primary source. Even as (an unwilling) participant in
the events, I wasn’t an actual witness to McGaughey’s employment to
write the novel. It was Don Wollheim who told me he’d hired
McGaughey to write the book.
After exchanges between my lawyers and Ace’s lawyers, Don Wollheim said he’d been under the mistaken apprehension that Ace Books owned the Jeremy Six series and characters – that the books were a “house” series. They weren’t. By terms of the settlement, Ace allegedly dropped Gunslick Territory from its list after its first round of distribution. I say “allegedly” because I know Ace reprinted it at least once AFTER the settlement. I didn’t take them to task for it because our mutual friend Bill Cox told me that McGaughey was getting old, needed the money, and had written the book in good faith. I couldn’t ask him to suffer for something that wasn’t his fault. There was no malicious conspiracy. The thing was a matter of silly mistakes. I’ve never claimed authorship of Gunslick Territory. They’re my characters, but the story properly belongs in the Dudley Dean bibliography. As by Loren Zane Grey -
 #1. Lassiter. Pocket 52886, pbo, January 1985. Leisure 95418, pb, Dec 2004. #2. Ambush for Lassiter. Pocket 52885, pbo, April 1985. Leisure 95419, pb, May 2005. #3. Lassiter Gold. Pocket 60780, pbo, January 1986. #4. Lassiter Tough. Pocket 60781, pbo, July 1986. #5. Lassiter Luck. Pocket 62723, pbo, October 1986. #6. A Grave for Lassiter. Pocket 62724, pbo, February 1987. Leisure 95420, pb, November 2005. #7. Lassiter’s Ride. Pocket 63892, pbo, July 1988. Comment: Thanks to Jon Tuska for pointing out that we had missed this books in the first version of this checklist. Owen wrote the first seven in the series – there were eleven in all – as work for hire before his death in October 1986. Western Non-Fiction, as by Dean Owen - The Sam Houston Story. Monarch MA308, pbo, 1961.  WESTERN PULP FICTION - Jim Hatfield novels as by Jackson Cole: “White Gold of Texas” Texas Rangers, May 1947. - Reprinted as Popular Library 50-458, pbo, 1967. Masked Rider novels as by Dean Owen: “Gun-Riders of Sahuaro” Masked Rider Western, April 1952. “Marauders of Vinegar Gap” Masked Rider Western, Fall 1952. “The Spanish Spur” Masked Rider Western, February 1953. Comment [James]: Owen also wrote the final Masked Rider novel, “Brand of the Snake Track,” which was never published because the magazine was cancelled. It’s possible he rewrote this into one of his stand-alone novels, but I don’t know if that’s the case.
Range Riders novels as
by Dean Owen:
“Guns for the Diamond Jack”
Range Riders Western, November 1949.
 Rio
Kid novels as by Dean Owen:“Golden Conquest” Rio Kid
Western, February 1945.
“Crown for Azora” Rio Kid Western, July-August 1946. - Reprinted as Popular Library 00695, pbo, April 1976 (as by Jackson Cole). “Golden Empire” Rio Kid Western, October 1947. “Tyrant of the Tehachapis” Rio
Kid Western, August 1949.
“Killed By Proxy” Cowboy Stories, February 1936. [Believed by Jon Tuska to be McGaughey’s first published western story.] “The Lobo Pack Claims a Victim” Real Western, November 1937. “ Bullet Proof Gold” Sure-Fire Western, April 1938. “Gun Hawks of Red Gulch” Wild West Weekly, April 1 1939. “The Gallows Trail” Real Western, November 1940. “Noose Branded Buckeroo” Western Trails, May 1941. “Jailbird Texas Rangers” February 1942. “Fill Your Fist, Gunfighter—Fast!” Western Short Stories, August 1942. “Gunsmoke Redemption” Five-Novels Monthly, December 1942. “Gunman’s Pay” Fifteen Western Tales, December 1942. “A Fightin’ Man Needs Guns!” Fifteen Western Tales, March 1943. “Baggage Checked to Boothill” Thrilling Western, September 1943. “The Law Trail West” September 1943. “Gun-Smoke Verdict” Wild West, October 1943. “New Neighbors or Night-Riders?” Best Western Novels Magazine, January 1944. “Paintbrush Badman Western Aces” April 1944. “Trouble Branded” Western Story Magazine, April 1944. “Red Rock’s One-Man Rebellion” Ace-High Western Stories, March 1945. “Play the Cards, Tenderfoot!” Western Story Magazine, March 1945. “Deliver the Gunsmoke” Western Aces, July 1945. “Postmarked Hellangone” Texas Rangers, April 1946.  “Black Powder” Thrilling Western, May 1946.- Reprinted in The Masked Rider Western Magazine, February 1952. “Guns to the Sunset” West, October 1946. “Lash of the Little Boot” Popular Western, December 1946. “Sell ’Em in Boothill!” Ace-High Western Stories, July 1947. “Cold Trail to Carson” New Western Magazine, February 1948. “Howl to the Moon” .44 Western Magazine, April 1948. “A Hell of a Day to Die” Ace-High Western Stories, May 1948. “The Dead-or-Alive Kid” Three Western Novels Magazine, September 1948. “Too Late for a Peaceful Grave” Western Aces, May 1949. “Weak-Hearted Warrior” Ranch Romances, July 8 1949. “Tyrant of the Tehachapis” The Rio Kid Western, August 1949. “The Last Badman” Fifteen Western Tales, October 1949. “Guns for the Diamond Jack” Range Riders Western, November 1949. “Two Roses for Dead Man’s Range” Star Western, January 1950. “To Die But Once” Ranch Romances, January 20, 1950. “ Make Your Play in Boot Hill” Fifteen Western Tales, March 1950. “Roll On, Greenhorns, Roll On” Frontier Stories, Spring 1950. “The Sixguns That Waited at Virginia City” Western Short Stories, May 1950. “No Backshooters Wanted!” Three Western Novels Magazine, August 1950. “Red Gold” Complete Western Book Magazine, December 1950. “Rendezvous at Saddle Rock” Western Short Stories, January 1951. “Red Treasure of the Lost Rubio” Complete Western Book Magazine, February 1951. “Hang High Ranch” Romances, June 22 1951. “Guns for the Timber Queen” Giant Western, August 1951. “Trouble No Stranger” Complete Western Book Magazine, February 1952. “Woman from Tucson” Texas Western, January 1953. “Killer’s Stampede” 10 Story Western Magazine, February 1953 “Alone with a Gun” Ranch Romances, March13 1953. “Dead-or-Alive Cowman!” Max Brand’s Western Magazine, May 1953. “Brush Rider” Texas Western Magazine, May 1953. - Expanded into the paperback novel of the same name (Popular Library Eagle, 1955).  “Tombstone for Rifle Pass” Thrilling
Western,
May 1953.- Expanded into the paperback novel Rifle Pass (Popular Library, 1954). “Hang the Man High!” Big-Book Western Magazine, March 1954. “Border Spawn” Triple Western, Summer 1954. “Forty Mile Fence” [four-part serial] Ranch Romances Dec 2 1955 (Part 1), Jan 14 1956 (Part 3). “The Drifter” Treasury of Great Western Stories #1, 1965. (First appearance not known.) “Once You’re Branded” Ranch Romances, May 1968. OTHER FICTION As by Dean Owen: The Brides of Dracula. Monarch MM602, pbo, 1960. [Novelization of film.] Konga. Monarch MM604, pbo, 1960. [Novelization of film.] Reptilicus. Monarch MM605, pbo, 1961. [Novelization of film.] End of the World. Ace D-548, pbo, 1962. [Novelization of film, aka Panic in Year Zero!]  As by Hodge Evens. [Some of these may have criminous elements. ] Her Candle Burns Hot. Rainbow #109, digest pbo, 1951. Note: Thanks to Gino and Sheryl Albanese of Gian Luigi Fine Books for providing the cover image of this hard-to-find title. Whether or not there are criminous elements involved has not been conclusively determined, but if there are, from Gino’s description, they would appear to be relatively minor. The Lash of Lust. Beacon B427B, pbo, 1961. Two Faces of Passion. Beacon B443Y, pbo, 1961. As by Dean McCoy: The Development. Beacon B414F, pbo, 1961. Double Up. Beacon B435Y, pbo, 1961.  Sexbound. Beacon B460F, pbo, 1961. Beacon B822X, 2nd pr., 1965. No Empty Bed for Her. Beacon B550F, pbo, 1962. Anything to Win. Beacon B563F, pbo, 1962. Beach Binge. Beacon B580X, pbo, 1963. Beacon B887X, 2nd pr., 1965. The Friendship Club. Beacon B598F, pbo, 1963. Beacon B932X, 2nd pr., 1966. The Night It Happened. Beacon B634F, pbo, 1963. Beacon B967X, 2nd pr., 1966. The Husband Hunters. Beacon B648X, pbo, 1963. Commuting Wife. Beacon B693X, pbo, 1964. Wife Lender. Beacon B718X, pbo, 1964. The Love Pool. Beacon B751X, pbo, 1964. House-Boy Lover. Beacon B774X, pbo, 1964.  [NOTE: Beginning with #793, Beacon books were published under their Softcover Library imprint.] Free-Loving Wives. Beacon B803X, pbo, 1965. The Married Kind. Beacon B849X, pbo, 1965. My Lover, My Neighbor. Beacon B873X, 1965. Cheating Wife. Beacon B829X, pbo, 1965. Softcover Library S75117, pb, Group Sex. Beacon B906X, pbo, 1965. The Unattached. Beacon B938X, pbo, 1966. Love Hunters. Beacon B9787X, pbo, 1966. The Wrecker. Beacon B1015X, pbo, 1967. Sources: Allen J. Hubin, Crime Fiction IV.
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