A “Real Life” Indiana Jones” lived most of his life in La Plata, MO. In addition to being a world class writer, he was a treasure hunter, an adventurer, a world traveler, and talented pilot. This nearly 6 foot four giant of a man was also WØCBL, an active Amateur Radio operator and mentor.

Lester Dent, WØCBL, was the author of the Doc Savage Mysteries and a huge number of other pulp fiction stories and novels. Lester Dent, WØCBL, born in 1904 in Macon County, on a primitive farm near La Plata MO. His humble origin suggests that it would be unlikely for him to become one of the most fascinating and widely read persons in the world. Lester Dent didn’t invent “pulp Fiction”, but he was probably the most prolific writer of “pulp fiction” that ever lived. His writings and Master Plot Formula for writing adventure stories is still being studied today.

Lester Dent spent much of his pre-teen years in almost total isolation, living on his father’s homestead in Wyoming, miles from any other family. His education was provided by his mother. and one of the ways he passing the time and dealt with the isolation was to create tales of fantasy and adventure. The Dent Family returned to La Plata and following High School, Lester took a job as a telegraph operator for Western Union and eventually he moved to Oklahoma, where he worked as a telegrapher for the Associated Press. The telegraphy experience made it easy for him to pass the license test to become an Amateur Radio operator.

One day a co-worker at the Associated Press told him that he had sold a story to a pulp fiction magazine for $450. Lester Dent decided then and there that he could make a lot more money selling stories than relaying messages for the AP. His first story published was called “Pirates Cay” for Top Notch Magazine. Next he was hired by Dell Publishing to write adventure stories for $500.00 each. He wrote stories at a frantic pace. After a few years at Dell, he was offered a job by Henry Ralston of Street and Smith to develop a completely new “Adventure Hero” for Street and Smith Publications. Lester was disappointed that he would have to write under the house name Kenneth Robeson, but he liked the idea that even during the great depression he could earn $500 per novel. The Character that Mr. Dent created was Doc Savage. He spent days developing the character and the team of associates that was to share in the adventures to come. To get an idea of the detail of Lester’s character development, he wrote six pages just on the color and character of Doc Savages eyes.

In the 1940’s he moved back to La Plata to take care of his father’s farm and he continued to produce stories at a fantastic rate. Lester Dent is believed to have written his stories and novels at a pace of 65,000 words per week and could average 200,000 words per month. This article so far has about 1300 words, so you can get some idea of how much prose he was able to create in a very short time. Some critics may have objected to his use of grammar, his formula, and over the top writing style, but there was no questioning of his ability to create exciting stories.

The way he told stories and his Master Fiction Plot Formula has stood the test of time. If you understand the elements of The Lester Dent Master Fiction Formula then you can see how its principles are currently central to adventure TV shows like NCIS, CSI, and movies like Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Star Wars and others.

Lester Dent was a member of the exclusive Explorer’s Club of New York City whose membership includes explorer giants like Commodore Robert Peary, Sir Edmund Hillary and Neil Armstrong. One of Lester Dent’s readers was Admiral Richard E. Byrd, Jr. who was famous for being the navigator and expedition leader of aircraft flights over both the North and South Pole. Admiral Byrd received the Medal of Honor for Heroism for his exploits. The Admiral had read Lester Dent’s story in Argosy Magazine that described an astrolabe of Dent’s invention. Admiral Byrd had the instrument built and used it to navigate on the south polar expedition. He presented the astrolabe to Lester Dent at the Explorer Club ceremony in New York and the actual astrolabe resides today in the Macon County Historical Museum in Macon, MO.

In the 1950s Paul Poteet, ABØC, was a member of Macon Scout troop 81 and on several occasions the troop was camped out at Stephens Park in Macon, MO. The scouts built a large fire and Lester Dent would tell stories of great adventure and danger long into the evening. The way Paul tells it, Lester Dent was one of the most interesting speakers he has ever hear. Mr. Dent was a trained pilot who owned 6 airplanes, and he constantly studied to help make his stories more authentic.

Larry Willingham, KØARS, was 12 years old when he visited the home of Lester Dent, WØCBL, in La Plata, MO. Mr. Dent showed Larry his extensive Amateur Radio Station and explained that he had designed and built. . During one of Larry’s visits to the Dent’s home he noticed piles of papers on a long table. Lester told Larry that each pile represented a different story and that he always wrote several stories at the same time. Mr. Dent always kept a pad and pencil near his bed to write down ideas for stories and plot twists that came to him in his sleep. He then took the ideas he “Dreamed up” and wrote them out in the proper form.

Each year in October the Macon Missouri Amateur Radio Club holds a special event W0D and sends out a special QSL card.

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