William Campbell Gault

Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1910, Gault began publishing short stories in 1936 and soon became a regular contributor to pulp magazines. He wrote in several genres—including mystery, sports, science fiction, romance, and westerns—and sometimes used the pseudonyms Roney Scott and Will Duke. By 1939, he was writing full time.

Gault won the 1953 Edgar Award for Best First Novel for Don’t Cry for Me, and later earned a Shamus Award for The Cana Diversion. From the 1960s onward, he became especially well known for sports fiction aimed at young readers, while continuing to write crime novels featuring private investigators Brock Callahan and Joe Puma. He received lifetime-achievement honors from the Private Eye Writers of America in 1984 and from Bouchercon in 1991. He died in Santa Barbara, California, in 1995.