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Eustace Cockrell and
the Art of Story Telling

Eustace Cockrell was best known as a pioneer television writer who wrote many of the early westerns (Have Gun Will Travel, Maverick, etc.) while under contract with Warner Brothers. He also wrote scripts for such diverse programs as the Loretta Young Show, The Naked City, I Spy and Alfred Hitchcock Presents. In 1953 he was nominated for an Academy Award in the Documentary category.

Over 100 Stories

Prior to the advent of television, however, Eustace published over 100 short stories in “pulp” magazines such as Blue Book and Argosy as well as in “slick” publications like Collier’s, Saturday Evening Post, Esquire and The American Magazine. In addition, another 40 “unpublished stories” have been collected, some of which may have been published in magazines not yet identified.

This website is dedicated to documenting Eustace Cockrell’s contribution as a writer with an emphasis on his career as a writer of short stories. (See Biographical Information.)

You Can Help Eustie

If you are aware of additional stories not included in the Published Works listing, please let us know. Documentation is particularly sketchy for the years 1945-1957. Thank you for helping Eustie. (See Published Works.)
A 2-volume set of “The Masterpieces of Eustace Cockrell” is available from Mission Point Press or from Amazon. See www.eustacecockrell.net for additional ordering information.

Missouri Native

A native of Warrensburg, Missouri, Eustace Cockrell was once, by his own admission, ‘one of the best pool players in town.’ It was inevitable, though, he insists, that he end up as a writer: his sister married a writer; his brother was a writer, married another writer; another sister was also a writer. “They all told me,” Cockrell likes to gag, “that it was nice work if you could get it, and I always was gullible. Well, I still think it’s nice work – if and when you can get it.” (See Reading Room.)