The Train-Hopping, Nazi-Fighting Literary Hero You’ve Never Heard Of. A noir Writer's Noir Writer.

He wrote books of poetry, won a chestful of medals, helped inspire Pulp Fiction—and loved a good bathroom joke. Meet First Sergeant Charles Willeford.

David Poller

Charles Willeford, author of novels like Pickup, High Priest of California, and Miami Blues, was one of the most unusual war heros America ever produced. Only a few years after fighting in World War II’s Battle of the Bulge, he published his first book, a collection of poems. Yet, to point out that he was writing poetry in the Army doesn’t do justice to just how rare a specimen he was, a war hero who made his reputation as an author without writing about war.
Read more at WILLEFORD.