ABOUT DES DUNN
Born Robert Desmond Dunn on a warm day, November 6, 1929, in Mackay, Queensland, the man the world would come to know simply as Des Dunn was destined for a life of words.
Yet, his earliest years gave little hint of the astonishing literary output that lay ahead. Educated at St Joseph's Nudgee College, Queensland, Des was a studious and sporty young man who would grow into one of Australia's most incredibly prolific, though often unsung, genre authors.
The Private Eye
The mid-1950s marked the beginning of Des Dunn's pen truly taking hold. From 1955 right up until 1989, he was a powerhouse writer for Cleveland Publishing, fueling the popular demand for accessible, thrilling paperback fiction.
He started on the mean streets, writing a handful of crime titles under the name Des R. Dunn. His skill for suspense and pacing soon landed him a massive gig: contributing to the legendary Larry Kent detective series.
Dunn is credited with penning around 80 of the 290 to 300 instalments in that hugely popular series, mastering the voice of the hard-boiled private eye.
Des Dunn at his trusty typewriter,
turning his imagination into words.
Des Dunn at his trusty typewriter,
turning his imagination into words.
The Wild West's Ghost Writer
While he could certainly write crime, Des Dunn's true domain (and the source of his astounding productivity) was the Western. He became a master of the cowboy novella, adopting a wardrobe of pseudonyms like a quick-change artist.
Imagine the shelf of paperbacks: one titled by Shad Denver, the next by Gunn Halliday, followed by Adam Brady, Brett Iverson, Matt Cregan, Sheldon B. Cole, Walt Renwick, and Morgan Culp. Yet, behind every one of those names was the single, tirelessly working Queenslander: Des Dunn.
He churned out over 600 titles under these various aliases, each a concise, action-packed story, typically around 40,000 words long. The sheer volume is mind-boggling: over his 34-year career, it's estimated that he wrote an astonishing 24 to 30 million words—a mountain of text that was, remarkably, almost entirely published. He gave countless readers a thrilling, dusty escape into the Wild West.
The Final Chapter
Des Dunn’s life wasn't just about his characters; he navigated his own story, marrying and divorcing twice and fathering three children, Rolene, Landan and Vanessa. His prolific career eventually drew to a close, and he passed away in Brisbane, Queensland, at the age of 73 on May 5, 2003.
Desmond Robert Dunn may have preferred to stay in the shadows of his many pseudonyms. Still, his legacy is one of unparalleled productivity and a powerful testament to the thrilling, workhorse world of genre fiction—a true legend of the Australian paperback era.
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