Will Cook

William Everett Cook (1921 – July 1964), was a western writer who used the pen names Will Cook, James Keene, Wade Everett and Frank Peace. Called "a master western storyteller," Cook published dozens of short stories and 50 novels before his death at age 42. A number of his stories and novels were turned into Hollywood westerns, including the 1961 John Ford film Two Rode Together.

Life Born in Richmond, Indiana, Cook ran away from home at age 16 and joined the U.S. Army cavalry Cook died of a heart attack in 1964

In 1959, Cook used the penname Wade Everett for a series of paperbacks released by Ballantine Books, with these novels being reprinted numerous times over the following decades. Among these was The Last Scout, published in 1960 and considered one of his best novels.

Cook's archives are held in the University of Oregon Libraries.

Hollywood adaptations

Cook's first novel, the 1954 Frontier Feud was filmed as Quincannon, Frontier Scout (1956). His 1959 novel Comanche Captives inspired the 1961 John Ford film Two Rode Together, with the novel being re-released that year as a movie tie-in by Bantam Books in the United States and as a hardcover in the United Kingdom. His 1958 novel Guns of North Texas was filmed as the Spaghetti Western The Tramplers (1965).

In addition, Cook's stories and novels were also adapted into a number of other Hollywood westerns including episodes of the TV shows Cheyenne, Bronco, and Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre.