Who's Who!
Western Comic Strip Creator Pens Novel that is More Than a Western
By Patty Lavelle
Oct 20, 2005, 02:27

For years cartoonist Stan Lynde entertained readers with a knowledge and feeling for the values held by people of western and rural America in two nationally syndicated comic strips - Rick O’Shay and Latigo. A Westerner by birth and inclination, Lynde now draws readers into new tales of the old West with the release of Marshal of Medicine Lodge.

Lynde introduced Merlin Fanshaw in his first novel, The Bodacious Kid, as a youngster caught up in trouble and ended up appointed as a deputy by U.S. Marshal Chance Ridgeway. Three more novels featuring Merlin follow in the series - Careless Creek, Saving Miss Julie, and Lynde’s newest novel Marshal of Medicine Lodge.

Set in 1886, Marshal of Medicine Lodge finds the young Merlin Fanshaw bored with the job of keeping the peace by playing cribbage, cleaning the jail, and fetching meals for the prisoner - when they have one - in the quiet town of Dry Creek, Montana. But trouble is brewing on the Crow Indian Reservation in southeastern Montana Territory and Merlin is sent to the town of Medicine Lodge to help Marshal Jefferson Brown restore peace between the starving Crow and the white men. The assignment seems a simple one, but a powerful cattleman and his brutal son seek to maintain their stringent control over both the town and the area's vast grazing lands. Deputy Fanshaw soon realizes the formidable duo will stop at nothing to achieve their selfish aspirations.

"Humorous, fast-paced and full of action, Merlin's observations on Medicine Lodge, the Crows, and life in general are sharp as a Bowie knife, and these elements all blend together, calling for a soft chair, a cool drink, and a silent phone, so the reader can enjoy this book without any disturbance,” says Doris R Meredith, Books Editor of RoundUp Magazine, a publication of the Western Writers of America.

Lynde is an adopted member of the Crow Indian tribe and has not only intensely researched and studied Western history but also lives the Western lifestyle. It is this background of experience that combines with a bit of American history and the author’s wry humor to create a novel that has broad appeal to men and women of all ages, many of whom do not read Westerns as a rule.

About the Author

Stan Lynde was born and raised in rural Montana where he worked as a ranch hand on his father’s ranch and attended school on the Crow Indian Reservation. Lynde currently resides in Helena, Montana with his wife Lynda and writes full time. For more information please visit www.oldmontana.com.


www.bridleandbit.com