Max Brand - King of Westerns
Frederick Schiller Faust Was a Prolific Author of Western Novels
Mar 1, 2009
Frederick Schiller Faust wrote under 19 different pen names, the most popular being Max Brand. Faust chose to write anonymously because of the anti-German sentiment of the period. He wrote more than 500 novels and stories during his 27-year career.
Faust was born on May 29, 1892 in Seattle, Washington into a poor family. His parents moved to the San Joaquin Valley in California and he was orphaned at an early age. Faust worked as a cowhand during his formative years and attended the University of California, Berkley. After four years of study, he was denied the right to graduate because of his troublemaking nature.
He tried unsuccessfully to enlist in the army to fight in World War I and was even refused entry into the Ambulance Corps. He married his college sweetheart, Dorothy Schilling and the couple went on to parent three children: Jane, John and Judith.
Max Brand's First Book is Published
Faust immersed himself in his writing and soon discovered that he had a heart condition that he suffered from for the remainder of his life.
His first publication success came in 1918 when The Untamed was published by All Story Weekly in six parts from December 7, 1918 through January 11, 1919.
His dream was to become known as a poet, but that endeavor failed him and he was forced to pay his bills by writing fiction. During the 1920s, Faust published between 1,000,000 and 1,500,000 words every year in various pulp magazines.
During the year 1932, Faust wrote a total of 1,600,000 words (or the equivalent of 23 full length novels) for Western Story Magazine alone. Using a total of five pseudonyms, he was published in all 52 weekly issues, often under three names in the same issue.
During the late 1930s, Faust settled with his family in Hollywood, California, working as a script writer and was paid handsomely ($1,000 a week) for his efforts. Eighty motion pictures have been based on his work.
When World War II began, Faust refused to be left behind. He managed to get himself assigned as a front line war correspondent. He lived with the troops on the Italian front in the mud of the foxholes.
On the night of May 12, 1944, Faust died from a shrapnel wound suffered during an attack on a hilltop village held by the German army.
Max Brand’s Other Pen Names
During his lifetime, Faust wrote a total of 30 million words in nearly every genre as well as four volumes of poetry, but far and away, Faust is best known for his Westerns.
Some other names that Faust was credited as include: Evan Evans, Peter Henry Morland, John Frederick, George Evans, David Manning, George Challis, Frank Austin, and George Owen Baxter.
Sources:
Max Brand Online, Retrieved on 2/26/08.
Brand, Max, Tales of the Wild West, Dorchester Publishing Co., Inc. New York. 2000.
