Wayne D. Overholser was born on September 4, 1906 in Pomeroy, WA. He wrote classic
western adventure novels and short stories. In addition to writing under his own name, he
used three pseudonyms: John S. Daniels, Dan J. Stevens, and Joseph Wayne. He won the
Western Writers of America Lifetime Achievement Award and was awarded the Spur
Award for the Best Western novel of the year three times. He wrote at least 90 books
and numerous short stories.
The Violent Land was published in 1954 (winner of the Spur Award). It is set in southeastern
Oregon in the "Old West" and tells the story of Dan Nathans and his family. It talks about
the feud between the cattlemen and the settlers and the struggle to survive. The New York
Times Book Review writes: "Wayne D. Overholser writes a true Western . . . a story that
is impossible to put down!"