Eustace Cockrell and
the Art of Story Telling

Pioneer Television Writer

Eustace Cockrell was best known as a pioneer television writer who wrote many of the early westerns (Sugarfoot, Maverick and Cheyenne) while under contract with Warner Brothers. He also contributed stories and teleplays for such diverse programs as Philco Television Playhouse, The Loretta Young Show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Damon Runyon Theatre, The Web, Man Without a Gun, Target, Jefferson Drum, Walter Winchell Files, This Man Dawson, Two Faces West and Naked City. (See Television Stories/Screenplays.)

Over 100 Stories

Prior to the advent of television, however, Cockrell published over 100 short stories in “pulp” fiction magazines such as Blue Book, Adventure 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 In addition, another 40 unpublished stories have been collected, some of which may have appeared in magazines or under pseudonyms not yet identified.

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

Vol. V of Eustace Cockrell’s Collected Works, The Lost Stories of Eustace Cockrell, will be published by Mission Point Press in May 2023. Included in this volume is a collection of the author’s unpublished works. The first four volumes are currently available in hardback, paperback and e-book editions from Amazon or Ingrams.

The five volume, Collected Works of Eustace Cockrell, is edited by Roger Coleman, Cockrell’s son-in-law, with assistance from the Cockrell family. The series includes 114 unique stories, written between 1932 and 1957.


The Lost Stories of Eustace Cockrell
Collected Works Vol. V
(Available May 2023)

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.)

The Masterpieces of
Eustace Cockrell
Collected Works Vol. I


The Masterpieces of
Eustace Cockrell
Collected Works Vol. II


Refugee Smith and
Other Stories of
the Ring
Collected Works Vol. III


Game As They Make ‘Em
The Sports Stories of Eustace Cockrell
Collected Works Vol. IV