William Robert Cox was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

. He was a prolific writer of short stories and Western

Western fiction

Western fiction is a genre of literature set in the American Old West frontier and typically set from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth century. Well-known writers of Western fiction include Zane Grey from the early 1900s and Louis L'Amour from the mid 20th century...

 and Mystery novels mainly for the pulp and paperback markets. He wrote under at least six pseudonyms: Willard d'Arcy, Mike Frederic, John Parkhill, Joel Reeve, Roger G. Spellman and Jonas Ward.

He was born in Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey

Peapack-Gladstone, New Jersey

Peapack and Gladstone is a borough in Somerset County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 Census, the borough population was 2,582...

. According to his widow, Casey Collins Cox, he was writing his 81st novel, Cemetery Jones and the Tombstone Wars on the day of his death in 1988. He was 87. He was survived by his wife, Casey, and his stepson, Douglas Campbell. He was the "beloved husband of Midge, Lamar, Lee, Pat and Casey,"

External links

• Find-a-Grave: William Robert Cox
• Guide to the William R. Cox papers at the University of Oregon