Lauran Bosworth Paine (born Lawrence Kerfman Duby Jr., in Duluth, Minnesota) was an American writer. He wrote over 1000 books, including hundreds of Westerns as well as romance, science fiction, and mystery novels. He also wrote a number of non-fiction books on the Old West, military history, witchcraft, and other subjects. Because his publishers only accepted a limited number of books under a single author's name, Paine adopted dozens of pseudonyms. Youthful experiences in the livestock trade, rodeos, and even as a movie cowboy -- along with listening to the old timers around him -- have lent an unmistakable authenticity to his stories of the west.