Zane Grey

Zane Grey is famous for his adventure novels that depict rugged individualists struggling to build lives in the desert southwest. During his life, 1872-1939, his novels were the best selling fiction in the world, the most respected work being riders of the Purple Sage, published in 1912. Zane was so popular because he took Americans in their homes across the country on exciting adventures that featured legendary places and first hand experiences he had actually faced in the wilderness himself.

These were not stories written by an author on the East coast fantasizing about life in the west. These were stories written by a brave man who had ridden horseback through rough territory, been lead by Native American guides to see sights no white man had seen before, and lived to tell tales set against the remarkable backdrop of the Southwest mesas and deserts. He was also very popular reading for Europeans who harbored a romance for the wild reaches of America. He was, by 1933, the most successful novelist of his time.

In addition to his passion for exploring the West on horseback, and relating thee adventures in his writing, Zane Grey also had a passion for the sea.

The popularity of his books, such as Riders of the Purple Sage, enabled him to build a pueblo-style home on Santa Catalina Island. From this perch high above Avalon Bay, Zane was able to pursue his two great passions - adventure writing and deep sea fishing.

In his 37 years as a writer, which began when he was 30 years old, Zane Grey wrote 64 novels, 12 non-fiction outdoors nooks, 250 short works, 4 boys books, and 2 baseball novels - plus - participated directly in many of the 113 full length movies that brought his novels to life on film. In fact, Zane Grey is credited as being one of the major literary influences that brought the film industry to the western shores of America to form Hollywood.

With more than 130 million copies of his books sold, and published in 23 languages, Zane Greyhundreds of millions of people around the world.

Zane Grey on Catalina

Zane Grey first visited Catalina during his honeymoon with his wife Dolly in 1905 as part of their tour of the Grand canyon, San Diego, Santa Catalina and San Francisco. Born Pearl Zane Gray and Lina Elise Roth, the two became known as Zane Grey - or Doc - and Dolly after their marriage.

The Greyleaving the east coast to permanently settle in California to work and raise their family. In July of 1918 they rented a house in Avalon, the same year he found Zane Grey Productions ,a film company that would later become the basis for Paramount Studios. Originally intending to live year round on Catalina, they decided to spend summers on Catalina with its cooling breezes, and winters in Alta Dena where the winter weather was milder. The Greywestern writer.

Zane as a Fisherman

During his seventeen years on Catalina, Zane was a prominent member of the famous Tuna Club, open only to fishermen who had landed a 100 pound or over tuna gamefish; he later became a vice president of the Club. From tuna fishing he moved on to larger game fishing - such as striped marlin off San Clemente Island where he and his brother, RC, established a record by catching and releasing 12 marlin in one day.

Zaneforecast fighters in all of gamefish. It took three men trading off on the pole to keep the giant fish on line, and it lead them far out to sea at night, all the while dining on flying fish that were sailing into the air surrounding their boat. The swordfish apparently never was even aware he had been hooked and was taking them a Mr. Toadand the fishermen sailed dumbfounded back to shore.

Here is a description of an unbelievable fishing event written by Zane Grey and first published in Tales of Swordfish and Tuna 1925, then again in Zane Grey Outdoorsman in 1972. This is the same mighty fish venerated by the Chumash in legends, dance and costume.

" The two of us working together, began to tell on the swordfish. We stopped him. We turned him. We got him coming. Still we could not tell how close we had him. The 150-foot mark had worn oft the line. Then just when our hopes began to mount and we began to believe we could whip him, the reel went out of gear. The drag refused to stick. Dan could wind in the line, but there was no drag to hold it. He had to hold it with his thumb. This was heartbreaking. Yet we seemed to rise to a frenzy and worked all the harder.

At eleven o! It did seem as if victory would crown our combined efforts. But we were both well-nigh exhausted and had to finish him quickly if we were to do it at all. The sea was dark now. A wan starlight did not help us, and we could not always tell just where our quarry was. Suddenly, you our amazement, he jerked the line from under Danto wind. He did so, getting nearly all the line back. Then the old strain showed again on the rod. Our broadbill had changed his tactics. He made some thumping sounds on the surface. Say, I don I was reminded that Boschen, Adams and myself agreed on the theory that broadbill swordfish wake up and become fierce and dangerous after dark. This one certainly verified the theory. In the dark we could not tell where he was, whether he was close or near, whether he menaced us or not. Some of the splashes he made sounded angry and close. I expected to hear a crash at any moment. Captain Dan and I were loath to cut the line; stirred and roused as we were, it was difficult to give in. We took the chance that as long as our propeller turned the swordfish would not ram us.

But if we had only known what we were soon to learn, we might have spared ourselves further toil and dread.

Suddenly the line began to whiz of the reel. This time the fish took off several hundred feet, then stopped. The line slacked. Dan wound up the slack, and then the fish jerked out more. Still he did not run. I let go of the rod and raised myself to look out into the gloom. I could just make out the pale obscurity of heaving seas, wan and mysterious under the starlight. I heard splashes.

" Listen, Dan, Captain Dan relaxed a little and listened. Then we heard more splashes, the angry swirl of water violently disturbed, the familiar swishing sound. Then followed a heavy thump. After that soft, light splashes came from the darkness here and there. I heard the rush of light bodies in the air. Then a skittering splash, right near the boat, showed us where a fling fish had ended his flight.

Dan! Flying fish ! All around us - in the air! We listened again, to be rewarded by practically the same sounds. Captain Don rested the rod on the gunwale, pointing straight out where we heard the swordfish. Snap! Then he would in the slack line.

There!flyingosh! If that ain It was long a after midnight when we reached the island. Quite a crowd of fishermen and others interested waited for us at the pier, and heard our story with disappointment and wonder. Some of our angler friends made light of the swordfish stunts, especially of his chasing flying fish after being fought for more than eleven hours. It did seem strange, improbable. But I had learned that there were stranger possibilities than this in connection with the life and habits of the denizens of the deep. I shall always be positive of the enormous size of this broadbill, and that, after being fought for half a day, and while still hooked, he began chasing flying fish. "

With further modifications on their fishing line weights and tackle, the Zane brothers did land 36 broadbills, the largest being 582 and 588 pounds 1921-1927. But they never did catch the monstrous 1,000 pounder. Talk about a fish that got away !

Zane continued fishing and also had amazing encounters in the South Pacific with creatures so large they were thought mythical, but who were seen and witnessed by others, so we can be assured that the fishermanretellings of his amazing fishing adventures. To learn more about Zane Grey, his life, and his fishing adventures, suggested reading is Zane Grey a photographic odyssey, written by his son, Loren Grey.