Frank O'Rourke (October 16, 1916 - April 27, 1989) was an American writer known for western and mystery novels and sports fiction. O'Rourke ultimately wrote more than 60 novels and numerous magazine articles.

Born in Denver, Colorado he attended Kemper Military School. A very talented amateur baseball player, he considered trying out for a professional team, but was called up for service in World War II. By the end of the war he had decided to become a writer; his first novel was E COMPANY (1945), based in part on his wartime experiences.

Several of O'Rourke's novels were filmed, THE BRAVADOS (1958) was the first, and his novel A MULE FOR THE MARQUESA was made into a popular movie named THE PROFESSIONALS (1966). THE GREAT BANK ROBBERY was filmed in 1969. He married artist Edith Carlson.

Later in life, O'Rourke turned to writing children's literature. A long-time sufferer of bronchial asthma, and made even more ill by the large doses of steroids he was required to take for control of the ailment, he committed suicide on April 27, 1989.

Books by Frank O'Rourke

The Heavenly World Series: Timeless Baseball Fiction

by Frank O'Rourke - Fiction, Historical Fiction, Short Stories, Sports

With freshness and empathy during the 1940s and 1950s, Frank O’Rourke created a world of baseball fiction as evocative as a dusty rural diamond or Wrigley Field’s ivied walls. In this richly enjoyable collection of O’Rourke’s work --- the first in nearly 50 years and including six stories never before in book form --- his heroes compete alongside such real baseball greats as Roy Campanella, Joe DiMaggio, and Willie Mays, while confronting the all-too-human limitations of injury, age, and envy.