Louis Dearborn L'Amour (1908 - 1988) was an American novelist and short story writer. His books consisted primarily of Western novels, however, he also wrote historical fiction (The Walking Drum), science fiction (The Haunted Mesa), non-fiction (Frontier), as well as poetry and short-story collections. Many of his stories were made into films. His books remain popular and most have gone through multiple printings. At the time of his death, he was "one of the world's most popular writers".