Biography

Philip L. Ketchum attended Denver University and spent a decade as a social worker in Denver,CO and Tucson, AZ. He began selling western, adventure and crime stories to the top pulp magazines in the mid-1930s. He was a regular contributor to Argosy, one of the best selling pulp magazines which published stories from all genres. His best known work for Argosy was a series of novelettes about a magical axe named Bretwalda which aided the male heirs of a British family from generation to generation and through many wars from the Crusades to World War 1. Stories in the series were collected in "The Great Axe Bretwalda" (Little, Brown 1955).

Ketchum is best remembered as a writer of excellent western novels from the 1950s through the 1960s. His plots were usually much more realistic than the formula fiction that was common in westerns. His characters were drawn with greater than usual depth with quirks and flaws included. His novels were also noted for the inclusion of strong, independent women in important roles.
- IMDb mini biography by: Richard A. Moore