The Lone Ranger by Fran Striker (Gaylord DuBois) 1936
The Lone Ranger by Fran Striker (Gaylord DuBois under the pen-name of Fran Striker)
Published in 1936 by Grosset & Dunlap
Illustrated by Paul Laune
As a child I was a huge Lone Ranger fan and gobbled up every bit of Lone Ranger that I could. From the old radio shows of the 1930’s, the ’38 Republic film-serials, to the Clayton More TV shows and the 1956 movie.
Later on, Hans Zimmer’s score came along, and I was delighted to have as epic a rendition of the music as anyone could ask for–one which took a lot of that old music both from the original composition and from the 30’s radio shows (which had been discarded, chopped short into a tiny theme, and largely forgotten during the TV show years of the 50’s and beyond) and brought it back to life by weaving the old bits of it copiously into his score. And doing what I always held was impossible–taking that fabulous piece of music and making it even more marvelous.
And then came the day that I finally got an afternoon to read the 1936 Lone Ranger book by Gaylord DuBois, and see how it measured up to the rest of the vintage Lone Ranger world. I have read other later vintage books about him, but not this original one.
Firstly, I must say that the LR’s personality, and the overall tone of the book quite surprised me. It doesn’t fit it with Clayton Moore’s serious, steady, portrayal. The 30’s radio show Lone Ranger is a bit more prone to lightheartedness, but not as much as this character. This version of the Ranger is much more like a jovial character from one of the Clarence Mulfords tales, or the jovial cowboys from the autobiographies of the real west, than like the Lone Ranger. He’s jovial and cheery. He’ll ride along laughing for half an hour about a practical joke he played on the bad guys, lay in the dust grinning when a bullet misses him, and is quite different from the well-known 50’s version.
Besides having a lighthearted personality, he also goes in the other direction and gets a little rougher than the Clayton Moore version. Even when speaking to the good guys. Also, he drinks tea all the time instead of coffee. 🙂
Real Lone Ranger fans will be shocked that he is seen without his mask by a girl. The story of how he got Silver is changed. And several other minor things.
It is a fun read, but not exceptional—very much like reading an extended version of the radio show episodes. It is a great adventure tale for children though, and would be sure to please any fans of those Old Time Radio shows. It’s written for a similar age range as the Hardy Boys books.