History Minutes: Walt Morey (1907-1992)

This Sesquicentennial History Minute is from the Oregon Encyclopedia, a state-wide project supported by Portland State University, Oregon Historical Society, and Oregon Council of Teachers of English, with generous support from the Oregon Cultural Trust.  This History Minute is written by Eric Kimmel. 

A big, broad-shouldered guy who earned his living outdoors, Walt Morey wrote in the literary tradition of Stewart Holbrook and Jack London.  Born in Hoquiam, Washington, Morey started school in Jasper,Oregon, and moved frequently as his family followed jobs and opportunities.  He hated school and, by his own admission, never read anything.  But one day in Great Falls, Montana, his teacher gave him a biography of cowboy artist Charles Russell. Overnight he became a voracious reader.

After barely finishing high school, Morey worked at several jobs.  He had some success writing adventure stories for pulp magazines, but the coming of television ended the pulp market and Morey's writing career.  He went to Alaska to work as a deep-sea diver and returned with stories of killer whales, sharks, and "crabs the size of double beds.”  Morey began writing for a new audience: children, especially boys. Morey's best-known books are Gentle Ben and Kävik the Wolf Dog.  Testing oneself against external and internal challenges and a deep respect for the natural world are important themes in all of them.

Morey never had trouble connecting with children.  To watch him in action was to see Gentle Ben in the flesh: a tall, powerful man, entrancing elementary school children with tales of adventures and sharing his passion for stories, books, the outdoors, and writing.