Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944) was an American author known primarily for his thoughtful and literary Westerns under the pen name Max Brand. His other pseudonyms include George Owen Baxter, Evan Evans, George Evans, David Manning, John Frederick, Peter Morland, George Challis, and Frederick Frost.Faust was born in Seattle to Gilbert Leander Faust and Louisa Elizabeth (Uriel) Faust, both of whom died when Faust was still a boy. He grew up in central California, and later worked as a cowhand on one of the many ranches of the San Joaquin Valley. Faust attended the University of California, Berkeley, where he began to write for student publications, poetry magazines, and newspapers. Failing to graduate, Faust joined the Canadian Army in 1915, but deserted the next year and moved to New York City.During the 1910s, Faust sold stories to the pulp magazines of Frank Munsey, including All-Story Weekly and Argosy Magazine. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Faust tried to enlist but was rejected. He married Dorothy Schillig in 1917, and the couple had three children.In the 1920s, Faust wrote extensively for pulp magazines, especially Street & Smith’s Western Story Magazine, a weekly for which he would write over a million words a year under various pen names, often seeing two serials and a short novel published in a single issue. In 1921, he suffered a severe heart attack, and for the rest of his life suffered from chronic heart disease.His love for mythology was a constant source of inspiration for his fiction, and it has been speculated that these classical influences accounted in some part for his success as a popular writer. Many of his stories would later inspire films. He created the Western character Destry, featured in several cinematic versions of Destry Rides Again, and his character Dr. Kildare was adapted to motion pictures, radio, television, and comic books.In 1934 Faust began to write for upscale, slick magazines, often writing from a villa in Italy. In 1938, due to political events in Europe, he returned with his family to the United States and settled in Hollywood where he worked as a screenwriter for a number of film studios. At one point, Warner Brothers paid him $3,000 a week (a year’s salary for an average worker at the time), and he made a fortune from MGM’s Dr. Kildare adaptions. Faust became one of the highest paid writers of his day. Ironically, Faust disparaged his commercial success and used his real name only for the poetry that he regarded as his literary calling.When World War II began, Faust insisted on doing his part, and despite being well into middle age and having a heart condition, managed to become a front line war correspondent. Soldiers with whom he served reportedly enjoyed having this popular author among them. While traveling with American soldiers fighting in Italy in 1944, Faust was mortally wounded by shrapnel. He was personally commended for bravery by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Historian Arthur Herman recommends his book Fighter Squadron at Guadalcanal with enthusiasm (New York Post, June 2, 2012).
Faust's father was a lawyer, land speculator, bank president, and lumber-mill owner in Seattle and in California.
2
He had a weak heart and suffered a heart attack at the early age of 29. Despite this heart condition and already being into middle age, he volunteered for war correspondent duty in WWII. Hit by shrapnel, he asked medics to attend to the younger men first.
3
Estimated that he wrote 25 million words in his career, mostly in novels, short stories and screenplays
4
"Max Brand" was the most famous of his five pseudonyms.
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Was a war correspondent for "Harper's" magazine during World War II covering the fighting against German forces in Italy when he was hit by shrapnel, and later died of his wounds. Fighting was so fierce at the time of his death that the people around him didn't keep track of the date of his death. The 12 May date was a "best guess" date that is unconfirmed but considered official by the U.S. Army.
Writer
Title
Year
Status
Character
Shoot First and Pray You Live (Because Luck Has Nothing to Do with It)
2008
book "Luck"
Destry reitet wieder
1966
TV Movie novella
Destry
1964
TV Series character - 13 episodes
Dr. Kildare
1961
TV Series story - 1 episode
Lux Video Theatre
1955
TV Series novel - 1 episode
Destry
1954
suggested by novel "Destry Rides Again"
Gruen Guild Theater
1952
TV Series story - 1 episode
My Outlaw Brother
1951
book "South of the Rio Grande"
Branded
1950
novel "Montana Rides" - as Evan Evans
Singing Guns
1950
based on the novel by
NBC Presents
1949
TV Series story - 1 episode
Dark Delusion
1947
character creator
Rainbow Over Texas
1946
story
Between Two Women
1945
based on characters created by
3 Men in White
1944
characters
Uncertain Glory
1944
screenplay
The Desperadoes
1943
original story
Calling Dr. Gillespie
1942
characters
Powder Town
1942
novel
Dr. Kildare's Victory
1942
based on the characters created by
Dr. Kildare's Wedding Day
1941
based on the characters created by
The People vs. Dr. Kildare
1941
story
Dr. Kildare's Crisis
1940
story
Dr. Kildare Goes Home
1940
based on an original story by
Dr. Kildare's Strange Case
1940
story
Destry Rides Again
1939
suggested by novel "Destry Rides Again"
The Secret of Dr. Kildare
1939
story
Calling Dr. Kildare
1939
from an original story by
Young Dr. Kildare
1938
story
Internes Can't Take Money
1937
story
Destry Rides Again
1932
novel
A Holy Terror
1931
novel "Trailin'"
Fair Warning
1931
novel "The Untamed"
The Cavalier
1928
story "The Black Rider" - as Frederick Faust
The Flying Horseman
1926
story "Dark Rosaleen"
The Best Bad Man
1925
story "Senor Jingle Bells"
Against All Odds
1924
novel "Cuttles' Hired Man"
The Vagabond Trail
1924
novel "Donnegan" - as George Owen Baxter
Mile-a-Minute Romeo
1923
story "The Gun Gentleman"
Darkness
1923
Short story
The Gunfighter
1923
story "Hired Guns"
Three Who Paid
1923
story - as George Owen Baxter
Just Tony
1922
adapted from the novel by
The Fighting Streak
1922
novel "Free Range Lanning" - as George Owen Baxter