Tom Curry (writer)


Thomas Albert Curry, better known as Tom Curry, was an American pulp fiction writer who began writing crime and detective stories but went on to become one of the more prolific western writers in the genre.

Early life

Curry was born in Hartford, Connecticut, on November 4, 1900. Thomas attended Columbia College in 1920. In 1923 he worked as a crime reporter for William Randolph Hearst's newspaper the New York American. Some of his early crime stories were taken from this experience.
Tom Curry's sister was actress Helen Curry who was married to fellow pulp fiction author F.R. Buckley.

Writing career

His was paid $25.00 for his first story to be published, "Diamond in the Rough", which appeared in the March 1921 edition of pulp magazine People's Favorite
Curry's stories have appeared in over 400 pulp magazines including Argosy, Black Mask, The Blue Book Magazine, Short Stories and several Thrilling Publications including Texas Rangers, Thrilling Adventures, Thrilling Ranch Stories and Thrilling Western

The Rio Kid

In 1939 he created his most well known character, The Rio Kid, bringing an element of historical fiction to the genre with his lead character interacting with actual historical events and people. This series had its own magazine devoted to it from 1939 through 1953
As was not uncommon in the genre, in addition to writing under his own name Curry would also write under pseudonyms including Jackson Cole, Bradford Scott and John Benton (house name for Thrilling Publications and sometimes ghostwrite for others such as Romer Zane Grey, eldest son of Zane Grey.
He was a prominent member of Western Writers of America for 50 years.

Selected works