Frank Gruber

Frank Gruber (February 2, 1904-December 9, 1969) began writing as a child. As a young newsboy, he read his first book, and it inspired him to become an author. He tried to sell some of his stories as a teenager, but no magazines wanted to publish his work. After a brief stint in the Army, Gruber sold his first story. He continued to write fiction while also working as an editor for farm magazines. After he was fired during the Great Depression, Gruber moved to New York and began publishing his work in pulp magazines. Later, he moved to California to write screenplays.

Gruber was one of the most prolific writers of pulp fiction, writing over 300 stories for more than 40 magazines. Additionally, he wrote over 60 novels and more than 200 screenplays and television scripts. One of his popular series was a long string of short stories featuring crime-solving encyclopedia salesman, Oliver Quade. Some of Quade’s adventures were collected in a book called Brass Knuckle. Gruber’s westerns and detective stories were his most well-known work.