Zane Grey

Zane Grey

Zanesville-born dentist turned author of Riders of the Purple Sage and dozens of other westerns, called the father of the western novel.

Born January 31, 1872, Zanesville (705 Convers Avenue)
Died October 23, 1939, Altadena, CA

Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born: January 31, 1872, Zanesville (705 Convers Avenue) (Muskingum County) source
Died: October 23, 1939, Altadena, CA source
Buried: Lackawaxen and Union Cemetery, Lackawaxen source
Also known as: Zane Grey, Pearl Zane Gray
Education: University of Pennsylvania (dentistry), Philadelphia, PA, to 1896, DDS
Known as: Writer

Life story

Pearl Zane Gray was born in Zanesville, a descendant of the Zane family for whom the city is named, son of a dentist. His family moved to Columbus in 1889 after money trouble.

He studied dentistry at Penn on a baseball scholarship and practised in New York from 1896, but wrote on the side; his first novel, Betty Zane, was self-published in 1903.

Riders of the Purple Sage (1912) made him a star of the Western. He eventually wrote more than 90 books that sold over 40 million copies.

He moved to California in 1918 and died in Altadena in 1939; he is buried in Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania.

Ohio ties

Zanesville (1872-1889)
birthplace (705 Convers Avenue) and boyhood home Muskingum County · source
Columbus (1889-c.1892)
family home after father's financial failure; played for the Columbus Capitols Franklin County · source
Norwich
site of the National Road/Zane Grey Museum (Ohio History Connection) Muskingum County · source

Timeline

1872 Born Pearl Zane Gray on January 31 in Zanesville, fourth of five children of dentist Lewis M. Gray and Alice Zane. source
1887 At fifteen wrote his first story, Jim of the Cave; his father destroyed it and beat him. source
1889 After a bad investment by his father, the family moved from Zanesville to Columbus. source
1896 Graduated in dentistry from the University of Pennsylvania, which he attended on a baseball scholarship. source
1903 Self-published Betty Zane, a novel about his ancestor's defense of Fort Henry, after Harper & Brothers turned it down. source
1905 Married Lina Elise "Dolly" Roth, left dentistry, and settled at Lackawaxen, Pennsylvania. source
1912 Published Riders of the Purple Sage. source
1939 Died October 23 at his home in Altadena, California; his ashes and Dolly's were later interred at Lackawaxen. source

What Zane is known for

Riders of the Purple Sage (1912)
Betty Zane (1903)
The Heritage of the Desert (1910)
Riders of the Purple Sage (1912)
The Lone Star Ranger (1915)
The Vanishing American (1925)

Stories

The teenage dentist of Columbus

In 1889 a bad investment left Lewis Gray, a Zanesville dentist, broke and ashamed, and he moved the family to Columbus to start over. His teenage son Pearl rode out with him on rural house calls and pulled teeth himself, using extractions his father had taught him, until the state dental board put a stop to it. His brother Romer drove a delivery wagon to help, and Pearl ushered in a theater part-time. He also pitched summer baseball for the Columbus Capitols, and a scout's interest led to college offers. He chose Penn on a baseball scholarship and, reluctantly, studied dentistry, the trade he would drop in 1905 to write westerns.

Source

Muddy Miser and Jim of the Cave

Grey's father was harsh and often beat him, and as a Zanesville boy he found a different mentor in an older man known as Muddy Miser, who took him fishing, encouraged him to write and talked up an unconventional life. His father told him to stay away; Grey spent much of five years with Miser anyway. He read dime novels and copied illustrations by Howard Pyle and Frederic Remington. At fifteen he wrote his first story, Jim of the Cave, which his father tore up. A book of Ohio frontier history likely shaped his first novel, Betty Zane, about his own Zane ancestors on the upper Ohio.

Source

Honors and things named for them

Hall of Great Westerners (1977)
Over 100 film adaptations

Named for Zane Grey

National Road/Zane Grey Museum (Norwich, Muskingum County) source

Family

father: Lewis M. Gray
spouse: Lina Elise 'Dolly' Roth
son: Romer Zane Grey

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1 Ohio Historical Marker 13-60, Zane Grey "Father of the Western Novel" (birthplace site)
Zanesville, 705 Convers Avenue Muskingum County · source
National Road/Zane Grey Museum (recreated study, manuscripts, memorabilia) (unknown)
Norwich, 8850 East Pike Muskingum County · source

Places in Ohio to see

National Road-Zane Grey Museum (museum)
Norwich, Muskingum County Norwich · Muskingum County · official page

Ohio places

Where Zane Grey was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Born: Zanesville, Muskingum County ZIP 43701 · Zanesville · Muskingum County

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

The Argosy, September 1914
Public domain
Poster for the 1928 film Avalance
Public domain
No known restrictions
Extract from the the Catalog of Copyright Entries showing renewals for Amber's Mirage, The Drift Fence and Fig...
Public domain
Zane Grey, Lillian Pertka & party at Koala Park
Public domain
Zane Grey, Lillian Pertka & party at Koala Park
Public domain
The Thundering Herd - Cover
Public domain
This is a poster for the 1930 American Western film, The Border Legion.
Public domain
Still from the American western film The Thundering Herd (1925) with author Zane Grey and screenwriter Lucien ...
Public domain
American western author Zane Grey, on page 1635 of the June 14, 1919 Moving Picture World.
Public domain
Zane Grey with Striped Marlin, Bermagui, New South Wales, Australia, T. C. Roughley, 14 February 1936, State L...
Public domain
Zane Grey books to movies circa 1925
Public domain