Duncan, Thomas W

About the author

Thomas Duncan (1905–87) was born in Casey, Iowa, and succeeded in getting his articles and short stories published whilst still in his teens. He studied at Drake University (pre-law), changing to Harvard, where he studied writing. During his time at Drake University, he travelled during the summer with a Chautauqua theatrical group, on which experience he later based his first novel, O Chautauqua. This, together with Ring Horse, his one horse book, did not sell well. After a stint at Grinnell College from 1942–44, where he was director of public relations, he and his wife Actea Carolyn Young moved to the West, and Duncan began to write full time. His next circus book, Gus the Great, was a huge success, and his literary career was launched.

Finding the book
Easy to find in the USA. It was not printed in the UK.

Links and sources
Thomas W Duncan’s papers are in the University of Iowa library
Terri A. Wear: Horse Stories, an Annotated Bibliography, Scarecrow Press, 1987
National Library of Congress


Bibliography (horse books only)


Ring Horse

Doubleday, Doran, New York, 1940, 239 pp
Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1952, 170 pp

Paul Reese is a young, struggling attorney. He gets involved with a circus clown called Dan Gilpin. Dan has a circus horse called Silver Fire.