Born in 1875, Zane Grey was raised in Zanesville, Ohio, a town founded by his mother’s family. His passion for the American West was aroused in 1907 when Grey toured the West with Buffalo Jones, a noted hunter and adventurer. Grey published a total of 85 books — popular adventure novels that idealized the Western frontier. Riders of the Purple Sage remains his best-known book. He died in 1939 in California.