Hugh Pendexter

Who was Hugh Pendexter?

Hugh Pendexter was an American journalist, novelist, screenwriter. Pendexter began his career as a humorous writer; some of this early work was anthologised in Mark Twain's book, Library of Humor and Wit. Pendexter's main body of fiction consisted of historical novels and Westerns for such publications as Adventure and Argosy. Pendexter was known for his detailed research when writing fiction; his stories were "often accompanied with extensive reading lists of the books that were used in writing the story". Pendexter's novel, Kings of the Missouri, about fur trading and the founding of St. Louis, is regarded by some critics as his best work.

For much of his life, Pendexter lived in Norway, Maine. He spent several years as a teacher of Latin and Greek in Maine High schools and left that work to enter newspaper work in Rochester, N. Y. where he worked on the Rochester Post Express. After twelve years as news writer he returned to Norway, where he married Helen M. Faunce, and devoted his entire time to fiction writing.

Pendexter was a friend of the writer Talbot Mundy.