On this Day in History...

July 19, 1879

DOC HOLLIDAY KILLS FOR THE FIRST TIME! 

 

 

Doc Holliday commits his first murder, killing a man for shooting up his New Mexico saloon.

Despite his formidable reputation as a deadly gunslinger, Doc Holliday only engaged in eight shootouts during his life, and it has only been verified that he killed two men. Still, the smartly dressed ex-dentist from Atlanta had a remarkably fearless attitude toward death and danger, perhaps because he was slowly dying from tuberculosis.

In 1879, Holliday settled in Las Vegas, New Mexico, where he opened a saloon with a partner. Holliday spent his evenings gambling in the saloon and he seemed determined to stress his health condition by heavy drinking. A notorious cad, Holliday also enjoyed the company of the dance hall girls that the partners hired to entertain the customers–which sometimes sparked trouble.

On this day in 1879, a former army scout named Mike Gordon tried to persuade one of Holliday’s saloon girls to quit her job and run away with him. When she refused, Gordon became infuriated. He went out to the street and began to fire bullets randomly into the saloon. He didn’t have a chance to do much damage–after the second shot, Holliday calmly stepped out of the saloon and dropped Gordon with a single bullet. Gordon died the next day.

The following year, Holliday abandoned the saloon business and joined his old friend Wyatt Earp in Tombstone, Arizona. There he would kill his second victim, during the famous “Gunfight at the O.K. Corral” in October 1881. During the subsequent six years, Holliday assisted at several other killings and wounded a number of men in gun battles. His hard drinking and tuberculosis eventually caught up with him, and he retired to a Colorado health resort where he died in 1887. Struck by the irony of such a peaceful end to a violent life, his last words reportedly were “This is funny.”

 

 

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Doc is “featured” in The Gunsmith series written by J.R. Roberts

415: THE FUNERAL OF DOC HOLLIDAY

The death of the legendary Doc Holliday brought Clint Adams to an impromptu wake following the funeral in Colton, California. The mourners in attendance would have made any outlaw shake in their boots: Wyatt Earp, Virgil Earp, Bat Masterson, Luke Short, “Turkey Creek” Jack Johnson and Sherman McMaster. After the funeral everyone left town, but Clint stayed to help Virgil—who was the Marshal of Colton—with a problem involving a group of cowboys. When Clint asked if there was going to be another O.K. Corral, Virgil said no, and assured him that the two of them could handle it. He shouldn't have said that, because he didn't know what kind of trouble was heading their way. If the the Gunsmith and the lawman didn't resolve matters, they weren't going to have much of a future …

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OUR MAN CLINT The Gunsmith Continues

OUR MAN CLINT

The Gunsmith Continues

By Robert J. Randisi, aka J.R. Roberts

            It was a bloodbath, probably fitting, given how long adult westerns and mens adventure paperbacks have been spilling blood within their pages.  But in one fell swoop publishers, with seeming disregard for the readers—or the readers that were left, anyway—cancelled all the Adult Western series—notably the long running Longarm and Gunsmith series—and mens adventure series—most notably, the Mack Bolan series.  This move, as of April of 2015, will not only rob loyal readers of the adventures of Custis Longarm and Mack Bolan, but will also put entire stables of writers out of work. Both series, along with many others, were written by multiple writers, having supplied work for many working writers for a good 40 years.  In fact, the Adult Western genre not only invigorated the western genre and kept it alive, but provided income for dozens of writers over the years. And now it’s the end of an era for all of them . . .

            . . . except The Gunsmith.

            Why?

            Very simple answer. For the most part, the Gunsmith was created and written by one man. When Charter Books contacted me in 1981 and asked me if I could create an Adult Western series for them, I jumped at the chance.  I created a bible and, when it was approved, signed a two book contract.  Then a contract for a third.  And then they called me and said they wanted to go into the genre whole-heartedly, and could I write a book a month.  I was 30 years old, had no idea if I could write a book a month, but I said “Yes!”

            I started writing under the pseudonym J.R. Roberts.  When I attended my first Western convention I discovered what anomaly the Gunsmith and I were. There were several other monthly adult westerns running at the time, and they were being written by three or four writers under a single house name. A “house name” is a name used by many authors on one series.  My “J.R. Roberts” nom de-plume was a pseudonym used by one person, not a house name. (It was only after Berkley Books purchased Charter Books and wanted to keep the Gunsmith going that they asked if they could hire two more writers, just to build up an inventory. The writers were to be approved by me, and I was to own even those books which I did not write, and receive a royalty. It made me even more of an anomaly in the genre. Once we had built up a one year inventory, I went back to writing all the books.).

            And I have done so since then, for over 32 years.  Gunsmith #1: Macklin’s Women came out in January of 1982, and there has been a Gunsmith every month since then.  Berkley Books decided to end of the run in April of 2015 with #399, and I was given enough warning so that I was able to place the series elsewhere and assure that Gunsmith #400 would appear in May of 2015, with no break in the action.  They will appear with a new cover design in ebook for from Piccadilly Publishing, and in paperback from Western Trailblazers.   And Our Man Clint will go on appearing in a book a month for as long as my flying fingers can flex.

            So to those loyal Gunsmith readers who pick up up each and every month, you may continue to do so, with heartfelt thanks from me, and from Our Man Clint Adams.

            I should also thank Charter Books, where it all started, and then Berkley Books, which has kept the series going all these years, as we all move on to the next bend in the road.

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Check out the page on Piccadilly Publishing website for more.

The Gunsmith - new titles revealed...

As you know, we are publishing J.R. Roberts' THE GUNSMITH series from number 400 onwards as of April 2015. Today, I received an email from the author with the first two titles - THE LINCOLN RANSOM and NEW MEXICO POWDER KEG.

The series covers will be illustrated by Tony Masero who has provided the covers to our CLINT ADAMS: THE GUNSMITH (aka Gunsmith Giants) series.

And a reminder if you ever needed one....

Can't wait .

Randisi brings his GUNSMITH to PP!

Well, have we got an announcement for YOU! Just today, we agreed a deal with Robert Randisi to take over the legendary GUNSMITH series when it ends its present run with long-term publisher Berkley Books! Berkley will issue # 399 in March 2015 and as of April we'll pick right up with # 400 and continue publishing a completely new adventure each month!

 

This is the kind of coup we could only dream about when we started PP two years ago. We'd really like to thank Robert for his faith in us.

 

What with the recent addition of CHEYENNE, WILD BILL, SAM SPUR, MIKE FARADAY and RENEGADE to our line-up, these really ARE exciting times!

 

Mike

Clint Adams, The Gunsmith - the artwork

Tony Masero has come up with the goods, yet again. Here are the first three covers in the CLINT ADAMS, THE GUNSMITH series. I'm sure that you agree with me that they are quite stunning.

Anthology Announcement - Livin' On Jacks and Queens

HIGHLY, HIGHLY delighted to announce the publication (in December 2013) of the latest Robert J. Randisi anthology, LIVIN' ON JACKS AND QUEENS, featuring a host of gambling-relation takes of the Old West by such luminaries as Johnny Boggs, John Nesbitt, Phil Dunlap, Nik Morton, Matthew Mayo, Charles Whipple, Randy Lee Eickhoff and of course RJR himself! A great privilege for PP to have these guys appear under our brand.