Noel Loomis (April 3, 1905 – September 7, 1969) was a writer, principally of western, mystery and science-fiction, in the middle of the 20th century. Born and raised in the American West, he was sufficiently familiar with that territory to write a useful history of the Wells Fargo company.
Noel Loomis was born Noel Miller Loomis on April 3, 1905 in the Oklahoma Territory town of Wakita, in the Cherokee Strip, and raised in Texico, in the New Mexico Territory, and in the West Texas town of Slaton. In later life he lived in Decanso, in the San Diego, California, Back Country from 1956.
He married Dorothy Moore Green, who was also a writer, in 1945. There is evidence that he had a first wife named Johnie or Jonie, who was the mother of his children.
Career and honors
1921 Attended Clarendon College1929–1979 Freelance writer1930 Attended University of Oklahoma1953 National survey of writers' incomes and terms in writers' contracts1954–1955 President of Western Writers of America1955–1956 President of Hulburd Grove Improvement Association1958 Spur Award Novel: Short Cut to Red River by Noel Loomis (Macmillan)1958–1969 Instructor in English, San Diego State College, San Diego, California1959 Spur Award Short Story: Grandfather Out of the Past by Noel Loomis (Frontiers West)1963–1969 Director of Writers WorkshopAmerican Academy of Political and Social ScienceAmerican Association of University ProfessorsAmerican Historical AssociationPEN InternationalHe also worked variously as a printer, newspaperman and editor.
Selected works.
Murder Goes to Press (1937)City of Glass (1942, Startling Stories, exp. 1955 by Columbia Publications)Iron Men (1945,(1945, Startling Stories)Electron Eat Electron (1946, Planet Stories)Turnover Time (1949, Startling Stories)Rim of the Caprock (1952)We Breathe For You (1953, Startling Stories)The Ultimate Planet (1949, Thrilling Wonder Stories)The Man With the Absolute Motion (1955, as by Silas Water)Short Cut to Red River (1958)Grandfather Out of the Past (1959)Pedro Vial and the Roads to Santa Fe, a description of Pedro Vial's exploratory expeditions (1967) (with Abraham P Nasatir)The Texan Santa Fe Pioneers (1958)Wells Fargo, a history of the Wells Fargo company (1968)Bonanza TV series, various episodesHave Gun, Will Travel TV series, various episodesCheyenne (TV series), 1956 episode: "Mustang Trail"Johnny Concho (film directed by Don McGuire), United Artists, 1956This production, starring
Frank Sinatra and other well-known actors, by accounts an unusual production, has to date (2014) never been released on any of the usual portable media, e.g. VHS or DVD.
Linecasting Operator-Machinist, Harding, Edwin B.; Noel M. Loomis, ed.1958–1969 Assistant professor of English at San Diego State College in Southern California
