John Dunkel

With an illustrious career that shot forth from a stint as a radio writer at CBS, Ohio native John Dunkel (also credited as John A. Dunkel) became a prolific writer of the classic television Western during the 1950s and 60s. He wrote episodes of Rawhide, The High Chaparral, Bonanza, The Virginian and The Big Valley. Perhaps his claim to fame was writing for Gunsmoke from 1955 to 1967. Dunkel suffered a fatal heart attack in Los Angeles, California, one day after his 86th birthday.

Wildest Westerns Magazine Awards!

Western film and television shows helped shape the moral values of many people in this country. Children grew up watching Gene Autry, Roy Rogers, The Lone Ranger, and many other heroes of the silver screen following the "Code of the West." The battle of wrong vs. right was the theme of virtually every Western movie and television show, and the right always prevailed.

Wildest Westerns is a Western magazine that is dedicated to revisiting those "thrilling tales of yesteryear" in the articles, interviews, reviews, and photos on our magazine pages. Some of America's most respected and remembered heroes and villains came from these Western genres. It is our hope that this Western magazine will awaken the memories in your heart, and also help bring to light the values of the Western to those who didn't have the benefit of knowing these wonderful heroes and villains. We will always remember them, and would like to say "Thank You" to all the actors, actresses, directors, producers, studios, and all the unsung heroes behind the scenes that brought us the Western.