Oregon Movies, A to Z

He’s a bear-faced man, a pug with a wild shock of graying hair, shoulders as wide as a Toyota and a voice like a goose in a grain elevator. From Oregon Magazine’s 1986 profile.

How To Become A World Famous Author – The Walt Morey Way

1. Pay no attention in school.

2. React to your dislike of a Zane Grey novel by rewriting it.

3. Learn punctuation by copying stories out of magazines, word for word, until you understand the rules.

4. Marry a school teacher.

5. Draw on your life experience.

6. Embrace your success.

Walt Morey published 17 books:

• No Cheers, No Glory (1945)
• Gentle Ben (1965)
• Kävik the Wolf Dog (1968)
• Angry Waters (1969)
• Runaway Stallion (1970)
• Gloomy Gus (1970)
• Deep Trouble (1971)
• The Bear of Friday Creek (1971)
• Scrub Dog of Alaska (1971)
• Canyon Winter (1972)
• Home is the North (1973)
• Run Far, Run Fast (1974)
• Operation Blue Bear (1975)
• Year of the Black Pony (1976)
• Sandy and the Rock Star (1979)
• Hero (1980)
• The Lemon Meringue Dog (1980)
• Death Walk (1991)

Three of Morey’s books made it to the big screen: Gentle Ben, Kavik the Wolf Dog and the Year of the Black Pony (under the title Wild Pony).

Walter Nelson Morey, born in 1907, grew up in Jasper, Oregon. He died in 2002. His papers are archived in the University of Oregon libraries.