New Hope

The title story, New Hope, is made up of seven short stories connected by the fact they all take place in the same town--a trading and freighting center in Nebraska. These were originally published in Collier's magazine between 1933 and 1938, and Ernest Haycox considered himself to be a better writer of short stories than of novels. Consequently he wrote over 300 short stories. The fact they were quick to produce and paid well might have been an incentive as well, but no one can deny that he was superb and unequaled in that genre--Stage to Lordsburg which became Stagecoach starring John Wayne. The other three stories in this book are just as good, and more typically "western"--a new town marshal faces a gambling hall owner who controls the county sheriff and the outlaws; a youngster holds up a stagecoach to prove he is a man; and a gunfighter comes to town hoping to forget his past only to find himself in the middle of a power struggle. This collection was long past over due. And there is still more of his work yet to be put in a readily available format; no where near all 300 plus stories have appeared in book form even today. Do people still read Ernest Haycox? or, for that matter, Zane Grey? If they don't they are missing two of the best who ever wrote about the heritage of America.

A Reader must be thinking of another writer. Ernest Haycox died in 1950, long before personal computers, let alone the Internet, existed. I have read all of Mr. Haycox's books, and remain a devoted fan.