The Mark of Zorro () von Johnston McCulley

The Mark of Zorro - Johnston McCulley - Timid Don Diego Vega grows faint at even the mention of bloodshed and would rather read poetry than defend his own honor. No one suspects that the effete aristocrat is living a double life as Zorro the fox, bold fighter of injustice, whose sword is ever ready to defend the poor and oppressed against a corrupt governor and his merciless army. Zorro's charade fools even the spirited Lolita Pulido, whose father forces her to endure the listless wooing of Don Diego while her heart belongs to the masked hero who laughs in the face of danger.This lighthearted tale of the Robin Hood of Old California unfolds as a suspenseful romp across Los Angeles of the 1820s. Loaded with colorful characters and historic atmosphere, recounted in direct and unpretentious prose, the pulp adventure offers a winning balance of action, comedy, and romance. This edition reprints the original 1919 story, published serially as "The Curse of Capistrano," which launched the Zorro legend. Scores of sequels followed, along with movie and television versions, all inspired by this swashbuckling classic.

Johnston McCulley (February 2, 1883 November 23, 1958) was the author of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro. Many of his novels and stories were written under the pseudonyms Harrington Strong, Raley Brien, George Drayne, Monica Morton, Rowena Raley, Frederic Phelps, Walter Pierson, and John Mack Stone, among others. McCulley started as a police reporter for The Police Gazette and served as an Army public affairs officer during World War I. An amateur history buff, he went on to a career in pulp magazines and screenplays, often using a Southern California backdrop for his stories. Aside from Zorro, McCulley created many other pulp characters, including Black Star, The Spider, The Mongoose, and Thubway Tham. Many of McCulley's characters The Green Ghost, The Thunderbolt, and The Crimson Clown were inspirations for the masked heroes that have appeared in popular culture from McCulley's time to the present day.