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Fox
Arriving at homespun Stick City, con man extraordinaire and sometime gentleman James Fox, alias James Todd, embarks on the most dangerous swindle of his career. It seems easy enough for a man of his formidable talents -- and it might be his last chance to get himself a stake and get out of the game forever. All he has to do is convince small-town rancher Amos McRae that for a mere $60,000, the mineral spring on his land could be converted into a spa that would attract a railroad to Stick City. When things begin to go wrong. Fox comes face to face with a situation that may require all of his wits and the smoothest acting job of his career. If he fails, it could cost him his life. Two mysterious deaths threaten to expose Fox's true identity -- and that could put him on the wrong end of a hangman's noose.
- GenresWesterns
186 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1976
4 people want to read
About the author
Lee Hoffman
56 books4 followersAlso published books under the name Georgia York
"My mother was born in High Springs, Florida in 1899, my father in Frankford, Pennsylvania in 1898, and my brother in Savannah, Georgia in 1922. I was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1932, shortly before the end of the Hoover administration.
By 1938 my parents had decide to relocate. They liked Lake Worth, Florida, the very small town where my mother's folks were living at the time. Taking me along, my mother went to Lake Worth to try to set up in the tourist business. My Dad had a job in a radio factory in Chicago. Since this was during The Great Depression and he didn't want to take any chances, he stayed there to collect a regular salary while my mother got the business established. My brother, then in high school, stayed with him to finish the school term before he came south.
My mother rented a large rooming house on the federal highway and hung out her shingle, but her timing was bad. That winter there was record cold. The tourists went further south, or back to their fireplaces and furnaces in the north. The next winter she rented a smaller place, but the same thing happened. Even so, my father left his job and joined us.
Things looked so unpromising in Florida that they decided to go to Savannah. That's where they'd met and married and built a small house. They still owned the house so they figured whatever happened, they'd have a roof over their heads. We arrived in the fall of 1940. My father landed a job as a radio repairman. Based on past experience, I figured we'd be moving again before long but we didn't. My parents settled in and stayed for the next twenty five years.
I'd done my first two years of grammar school in Florida. I got the rest of my formal education in Savannah. After I finished high school, I went to the local junior college. In grammar school, my ambition had been to become a cowgirl. In high school I decided I wanted to follow in the family footsteps and become a radio technician. In college, I got involved in the local theater scene, and wanted to do that for a living. By the time I graduated in 1951, I didn't know what I wanted to do.
My brother had gone into the Air Corps in WWII, had been stationed in England and had come home with a bride from London. He apprenticed to my father under the GI Bill. By the time I got out of college, they were partners planning to open their own radio & TV service business. I didn't yet realize it, but I was fated to work in the store for them until I left home.
My job was minding the counter, answering the phone and doing clerical work. Much of my time in the store was spent waiting for something to happen. With all that time to kill, I read a lot. When I got tired of that, I amused myself by writing my own books. Although I was an avid science-fiction fan, it was the western that came most naturally to me. I'd finish one and send it to be read by an out-of-town friend who liked westerns. Once I sent one to another friend who'd made some book sales. He thought it was salable and told me to send it to his agent. It bounced back without a word. I decided I was not ready to become a professional author. I was right. Years later, I looked back at those manuscripts and was glad so few people had ever seen them.
While still in college, I got into science-fiction fandom. I did some amateur (fanzine) publishing and went to several conventions. After I started working, I began spending my vacations on cattle ranches instead. Then in the fall of 1955 I decided to go to the World Science-Fiction Convention in Cleveland. That's where I met Larry Shaw, editor of the new science-fiction magazine, Infinity.
Larry and I spent much of the convention together and began a rapid-fire exchange of letters afterward. In one of them, he proposed marriage. I accepted. He came to Savannah to meet my folks and in the spring of 1956, I went to New York to get married. In retrospect, I think we were a little hasty. In 19
"My mother was born in High Springs, Florida in 1899, my father in Frankford, Pennsylvania in 1898, and my brother in Savannah, Georgia in 1922. I was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1932, shortly before the end of the Hoover administration.
By 1938 my parents had decide to relocate. They liked Lake Worth, Florida, the very small town where my mother's folks were living at the time. Taking me along, my mother went to Lake Worth to try to set up in the tourist business. My Dad had a job in a radio factory in Chicago. Since this was during The Great Depression and he didn't want to take any chances, he stayed there to collect a regular salary while my mother got the business established. My brother, then in high school, stayed with him to finish the school term before he came south.
My mother rented a large rooming house on the federal highway and hung out her shingle, but her timing was bad. That winter there was record cold. The tourists went further south, or back to their fireplaces and furnaces in the north. The next winter she rented a smaller place, but the same thing happened. Even so, my father left his job and joined us.
Things looked so unpromising in Florida that they decided to go to Savannah. That's where they'd met and married and built a small house. They still owned the house so they figured whatever happened, they'd have a roof over their heads. We arrived in the fall of 1940. My father landed a job as a radio repairman. Based on past experience, I figured we'd be moving again before long but we didn't. My parents settled in and stayed for the next twenty five years.
I'd done my first two years of grammar school in Florida. I got the rest of my formal education in Savannah. After I finished high school, I went to the local junior college. In grammar school, my ambition had been to become a cowgirl. In high school I decided I wanted to follow in the family footsteps and become a radio technician. In college, I got involved in the local theater scene, and wanted to do that for a living. By the time I graduated in 1951, I didn't know what I wanted to do.
My brother had gone into the Air Corps in WWII, had been stationed in England and had come home with a bride from London. He apprenticed to my father under the GI Bill. By the time I got out of college, they were partners planning to open their own radio & TV service business. I didn't yet realize it, but I was fated to work in the store for them until I left home.
My job was minding the counter, answering the phone and doing clerical work. Much of my time in the store was spent waiting for something to happen. With all that time to kill, I read a lot. When I got tired of that, I amused myself by writing my own books. Although I was an avid science-fiction fan, it was the western that came most naturally to me. I'd finish one and send it to be read by an out-of-town friend who liked westerns. Once I sent one to another friend who'd made some book sales. He thought it was salable and told me to send it to his agent. It bounced back without a word. I decided I was not ready to become a professional author. I was right. Years later, I looked back at those manuscripts and was glad so few people had ever seen them.
While still in college, I got into science-fiction fandom. I did some amateur (fanzine) publishing and went to several conventions. After I started working, I began spending my vacations on cattle ranches instead. Then in the fall of 1955 I decided to go to the World Science-Fiction Convention in Cleveland. That's where I met Larry Shaw, editor of the new science-fiction magazine, Infinity.
Larry and I spent much of the convention together and began a rapid-fire exchange of letters afterward. In one of them, he proposed marriage. I accepted. He came to Savannah to meet my folks and in the spring of 1956, I went to New York to get married. In retrospect, I think we were a little hasty. In 19
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
May 24, 2020
Kind of a fun story with some interesting twists and turns.
March 27, 2025
It was an enjoyable western/romance. Not Lee Hoffman's best but a nice little read.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews