90th Anniversary of L. Ron Hubbard’s Entry to the Western Genre Celebrated With Western Show
Kellen Cutsforth, Executive Director Western Writers of America, speaking about the history of the Western story as America's contribution to literature.
Kellen Cutsforth, Executive Director Western Writers of America, speaking in front of a large audience about the history of the Western story as America's contribution to literature.
Performance of "The Reign of the Gila Monster" by (l to r) Travis Oates, Bob Caso, Richard Reich, and R.F. Daley.
Applause following the performance of "The Reign of the Gila Monster."
90th anniversary of L. Ron Hubbard’s first Western yarn celebrated with a presentation by the Exec Dir of Western Writers of America and radio theatre show.
Hubbard instinctively understood the rhythms of frontier storytelling.”
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, July 13, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- 2026 marks the 90th anniversary of author L. Ron Hubbard’s entry into the western genre with his western tale, “The Baron of Coyote River,” published in the September 1936 issue of All Western Magazine. On the evening of July 11, in Hollywood, CA, Author Services, Inc. celebrated the anniversary with a special briefing on the history of the western story by the Executive Director of the Western Writers of America, Mr. Kellen Cutsforth, followed by a live radio-theatre performance of an early Hubbard humorous western, “The Reign of the Gila Monster.”— Kellen Cutsforth, Exec Dir Western Writers of America
The evening began with a chuck wagon dinner and tour of the L. Ron Hubbard Library at Author Services, Inc., the literary agency created to maintain the rights of Mr. Hubbard’s catalog. Guests then moseyed on down to the theatre, which was standing-room-only. Cutsforth proclaimed that literature is a conversation across generations and stated, “Every great writer borrows from those who came before, adds something uniquely his or her own, and passes the tradition to those who follow.” Nearly every civilization has contributed something unique to the world’s literary heritage: England gave us Shakespeare and the detective novel; France gave us romantic literature; Ancient Greece gave us epic poetry and mythology; and Russia gave us sweeping philosophical novels. He finished, “But America, America gave the world the Western.” It grew from our history, our geography, and our national character, and America became its most American as people moved westward and saw changes in clothing, language, food, and music. And as is being celebrated with this event, America’s stories changed.
Cutsforth stated, “Remarkably prolific, Hubbard wrote across numerous genres. Adventure, mystery, science fiction, fantasy, sea stories, aviation stories, detective fiction, and Westerns all flowed from his typewriter.” He went on about Hubbard’s debut story, “The Baron of Coyote River,” claiming “it demonstrated that Hubbard instinctively understood the rhythms of frontier storytelling.” He concluded, “The Western will endure. Like the riders who disappear into the sunset only to return in another story, the Western keeps riding on. And I suspect it always will.”
To set the stage for the evening’s show, a slightly revised version of “Ragtime Cowboy Joe,” renamed “Ragtime Cowboy Howdy,” was performed by Sisu Raiken, Nancy Daley, R.F. Daley, and Steve Wagner.
Following this musical introduction, the evening’s emcee briefed the audience, explaining how L. Ron Hubbard understood the frontier tradition and spirit that infused his Montana childhood. The emcee emphasized that the story reflects what Hubbard referred to as the West’s “do-and-dare attitudes, its wry humor, cowboy pranks, and make-nothing of the worst and most dangerous.”
Unlike many Westerns of its era, “Reign of the Gila Monster” is widely recognized for its fast-paced comedic elements and sharp wit, which made it perfect fare for the evening’s seasoned performers R.F Daley (Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves), Bob Caso (acting coach Innovative Actors Studio), Richard Reich (Good Cops), and Travis Oates (Winnie the Pooh).
After the performance concluded, guests were welcomed back to the L. Ron Hubbard Library for hot peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream, as well as the opportunity for photos with the actors and Kellen Cutsforth. The gathering provided a relaxed environment to reflect on the evening’s festivities.
Feedback from the night’s event from industry professionals in attendance included:
“This was a tremendous success!! It was unbelievable! I want you to keep doing these.” — EH
“The show was fantastic. Hubbard was just such a fantastic writer. I am a fan, he is one of my favorite authors, and one of the reasons why is that he writes so that you are immersed in the story.” — SS
“The WWA speaker was very good. Impressive. The performance was well done ─ the balance of over-the-top humor and the understated, with the sound effects, was done brilliantly.” — SR
Using 15 pen names, L. Ron Hubbard’s storytelling spanned many genres, ranging from air and sea adventure to US Marine Corps and Foreign Legion military fiction, as well as mystery, detective, thriller, science fiction and fantasy, and Western. Hubbard’s Western writing career would span 38 novels, novelettes, and short stories, totaling more than 468,000 words set against the backdrop of the American frontier, using his own or pen names such as Barry Randolph and Winchester Remington Colt.
For more information on L. Ron Hubbard and his Western yarns, visit www.GalaxyPress.com.
John Goodwin
Author Services, Inc.
+1 323-466-3310
email us here
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