Fred Gipson facts for kids

Fred (in hat) and his siblings

Frederick Benjamin "Fred" Gipson (born February 7, 1908 – died August 14, 1973) was an American author. He is most famous for writing the 1956 novel Old Yeller. This book later became a very popular 1957 Walt Disney film. Fred Gipson grew up on a farm near Mason, in the Texas Hill Country. His parents were Beck Gipson and Emma Deishler. After working many jobs on farms and ranches, he went to the University of Texas at Austin in 1933. There, he wrote for the school newspapers, Daily Texan and The Ranger. He left college early to become a newspaper journalist.

Fred Gipson's Books

In the 1940s, Fred Gipson started writing short stories about the American West. These stories helped him prepare for the longer books he would write later. In 1946, his first full-length book, The Fabulous Empire: Colonel Zack Miller's Story, was published.

Fred (on right) celebrating after book release.

Hound-Dog Man and Other Stories

His book Hound-Dog Man, published in 1947, made him well-known. It was chosen by the Doubleday Book-of-the-Month Club and sold over 250,000 copies in its first year. This book was also made into a film in 1959.

Fred Gipson wrote many other books, including:

• The Home Place (which became the movie Return of the Texan in 1952, starring Dale Robertson and Joanne Dru)
• Big Bend: A Homesteader's Story
• Cowhand: The Story of a Working Cowboy
• The Trail-Driving Rooster
• Recollection Creek

Fred Gipson visiting family in Sand Springs Oklahoma in 1959

The Story of Old Yeller

His most famous novel, Old Yeller, won the Newbery Honor award. It was made into a 1957 Walt Disney Studios film. Fred Gipson thought Old Yeller was his best work.

The story of Old Yeller takes place in the Texas Hill Country in the 1860s, right after the American Civil War. It is about a 14-year-old boy named Travis Coates. In the film, Travis was played by Tommy Kirk. Travis is left in charge of his family's home while his father is away. Old Yeller is a stray dog that Travis adopts. This brave dog helps Travis protect his family on their Texas ranch. The character of Old Yeller was based on a real dog named "Rattler" that belonged to the Deishler family. Unlike Old Yeller, Rattler was a dark-colored Border Collie.

Old Yeller Sequels

Old Yeller has two sequel books:

• Savage Sam (1962), which also became a Walt Disney film in 1963.
• Little Arliss, which was published in 1978 after Fred Gipson had passed away.

List of Fred Gipson's Books

Here is a list of the books written by Fred Gipson:

• Fabulous Empire: Colonel Zack Miller's Story. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1946.
• Hound-Dog Man. New York: Harper, 1949.
• Circle Round the Wagons. London: Michael Joseph, 1949. (This was the UK edition of Hound-Dog Man.)
• The Home Place. New York: Harper, 1950.
• Cowhand: the story of a working cowboy. New York: Harper, 1953.
• The Trail-Driving Rooster. New York: Harper, 1955.
• Recollection Creek. New York: Harper, 1955.
• Old Yeller. New York: Harper, 1956.
• The "Cow Killers": with the Aftosa Commission in Mexico. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1956.
• Recollection Creek, revised for young people. New York: Harper, 1959.
• Savage Sam. New York: Harper, 1962.
• Little Arliss. New York: Harper, 1978.
• Curly and the Wild Boar. New York: Harper, 1979.
• Hound-Dog Man. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1980.