Steve Frazee worked in heavy construction and mining in his native
Colorado and used that background in many of his stories. He began
selling stories to the western and adventure pulp magazines in the late
1940s eventually graduated to better paying markets. His short story
"My Brother Down There" won first place in the highly competitive
annual story contest conducted by Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. The
short story was also selected for Martha Foley's "Best American Short
Stories of the Year", a rare honor for a genre story. He expanded the
story into the novel "Moving Target" and collaborated on the screenplay
when it was filmed in 1957.
Best known for his western fiction, Frazee served as president of the
Western Writers of America. He won the Western Heritage Award and was
honored by the Cowboy Hall of Fame, both in 1961. He was also a popular
writer of books for younger readers.
Writer/critic Bill Pronzini praised Frazee for his "...evocative,
lyrical descriptions of wide-open spaces and of the awesome power of
nature" as well as his "...flawless characterization...believable
dialogue and the ability to create and sustain damp-palmed suspense."