J. T. Edson

John Thomas Edson (1928-2014) was an English author of more than 130 Western novels, best known for the Floating Outfit series featuring Dusty Fog, as well as the Calamity Jane, Waco, Rockabye County and Bunduki series. He served in the British Army from 1946 to 1958 as a dog handler, with service abroad, and began writing while stationed overseas.

Published mainly by Brown & Watson and Corgi, his paperbacks sold in the tens of millions, and he was at his most prolific writing a novel every few weeks. He lived near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, and retired from writing in 2005 because of ill health.