Garland Roark, Author of the novel "Wake of the Red Witch", posing beside an original movie poster for the 1949 film.	A model of the Red Witch, which was used in the movie "Wake of the Red Witch".
Garland Roark, standing next to the model of the Red Witch.	Garland Roark, doing a book signing for his novel, Wake of the Red Witch"

All of these pictures where given to Capt Bruce by the grandson of Garland on July 20th, 2005

I found a cool story about Garland on 11/11/09, the story was here:
http://www.c-bstatesman.com/news/2009-11-12/Historical/EAST_TEXAS_HISTORICAL.html

EAST TEXAS HISTORICAL

John Wayne is usually associated with westerns, but he also made a series of films such as "Donavan's Reef," "The Sea Chase," and "Reap the Wild Wind" in which he played a seafaring man.

One of those in this genre was "Wake of the Red Witch," but few know the movie was adapted from a novel penned by an east Texan, Garland Roark.

Roark was born in Groesbeck in 1904 but left the comforts of his Limestone County home and ventured west to attend West Texas State Normal College (now West Texas A&M) in Canyon.

He had to leave after a year to help support his mother and sister.

Next came a succession of jobs, one of them as a sailor in the Caribbean, which no doubt influenced his first and most popular novel, "Wake of the Red Witch."

Roark eventually settled into an advertising career in Houston, where he married Nacogdoches native Leola Elizabeth Burke and began to raise his two daughters, Sharon and Wanda.

While continuing his career, Roark began to write. He told the Shreveport Times in 1967 that he began to write after reading a story in the Saturday Evening Post whose ending "didn't satisfy me."

Eventually, Leola challenged him to write his own stories and the result was "Wake of the Red Witch."

Leola gave Garland her complete support, serving as his unofficial editor as she critiqued his work, pared down his prose, and encouraged him to find a publisher.

Publishers were reluctant to take a chance on an unproven author and Roark almost gave up, but Little Brown finally gave him his break and printed 7,200 copies of the novel in 1946.

The enthralling plot and colorful characters became a hit with the public and critics.

Within three months, the movies came calling with a film option. The film also became an important event in Wayne's career. "Stagecoach" had seemingly allowed Wayne to move away from the "B" movies he had made throughout the 1930s, but his contract with Republic Films forced him to go back to the type of films in which he had appeared earlier.

"Red Witch" was the vehicle that truly allowed him to break from his mold and emerge as an "A" list actor.

Roark continued his writing, producing such successful books as "Fair Wind to Java" (also made into a movie starring Fred McMurray), "Coin of Contraband, " and "Hellfire Jackson."

Roark was still living in Houston during the early 1950s, but Leola convinced him to move to her native Nacogdoches so they could raise their daughters in a smaller community.

Nacogdoches was a healthy locale for the Roark family. Garland concentrated on his writing with fewer distractions, and Sharon and Wanda were able to attend the more sedate Nacogdoches schools as well as Stephen F. Austin State University.

For the most part, Roark turned his later attention to western novels, which he wrote under the pen name of George Garland.

He received the Spur Award from the Western Writers of America for "Hellfire Jackson," was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters, and also served on the first editorial board of the East Texas Historical Association.

He lived a quiet, unassuming life in Nacogdoches, with no interest in the trappings of fame.

His only controversial moment may have been being one of the few open Republicans in Nacogdoches during those days of Democratic dominance.

He succumbed to pneumonia in 1985, but left east Texas with one of its most enduring literary legacies.

So, head to your favorite video outlet this week and enjoy "Wake of the Red Witch," or better yet, grab one of Roark's novels, cozy up, and do some reading.

You will be glad you did.