Thames Williamson

Born in Genesee, Idaho, in 1894, Thames Ross Williamson studied at the University of Iowa and later earned a master's degree at Harvard. Early in his career he taught economics, but his interests stretched much further, and he went on to build a varied writing life as a novelist, screenwriter, and author of textbooks.

Williamson wrote fiction for both adults and younger readers, sometimes using the pseudonym Waldo Fleming. His work reached Hollywood as well: he received story or screenplay credit on films including Next Time I Marry, Brimstone, The Last Bandit, and A Bullet Is Waiting. His novel Woods Colt was especially noted in its day and helped cement his reputation as a strong storyteller of the American West.

He married Sarah Storer Smith in 1927, and he died in Monterey County, California, in 1961. Although he is not a widely remembered household name now, his career shows an unusually broad mix of academic writing, popular fiction, and screen work.