Courtney Ryley Cooper

Courtney Riley Cooper (1886–1940) was born in Kansas City, Missouri. At age sixteen, he left home to join the circus, eventually working as a press agent for Wild West showman Buffalo Bill Cody. Prior to serving in World War I, Cooper also worked as a news reporter. Following the war, he wrote sevaral novels, short stories, radio serials, and film scenarios, and he served as the principal ghostwriter for FBI director J. Edgar Hoover. Among his publications are The Cross-Cut, The Pioneers, and The Golden Bubble.