What does GGG mean ?

GGG refers to George G Gilman, real name, Terry Harknett.  Back in the mid 70's I collected two series of western books by George G Gilman, Edge and Steele.  In the mid 80's the books seemed to dry up and I assumed that the books had stopped being written.  

In March 2002 I discovered that there existed a GGG fan club on the internet.  Through this I discovered that Terry did not stop writing the books until 1989.  I discovered that the Edge series had finished at book 61 and I was 10 books short.  The Steele series finished at 49 and I was 49 short having given away all my Steele books years ago when I last moved house.  I also discovered that Terry had written a series of 6 books called The Undertaker.

By this time I had started reading my Edge books again and resolved to collect the full set of Edge books.  I had also been made aware that the last 10 books or so had not had any re-prints which was the reason they were scarce, added to this was the fact that the books were not published in the States at all so our American friends were also vying for them too.

I began scouring the market stalls and second hand bookshops.  My first breakthrough came when I had to visit Leeds General Infirmary regarding a trapped nerve.  I got off the bus and walked through the market to the hospital.  While walking back through town after my appointment I decided to check out the market for a bookstall.

The Piccadilly Cowboys

The Piccadilly Cowboys consisted of Terry Harknett, Mike Linaker, Angus Wells, Ken Bulmer, Laurence James, John Harvey and Fred Nolan.  Between them they wrote 296 violent and action packed westerns in the 1970's and 80's.

There are 4 known holders of all the Piccadilly Cowboy books. Steve Mayall of the UK who collected the books when they came out.  Glyn Robertson of the UK who completed his collection in Oct 2006.  Brian Hiscox of the UK who completed his set in Dec 2007 and myself.  I completed my set in Dec 2004.

A company called Severn House published some of the PC books in the late 70's in hardback. Most of the ones I have are ex library books.  These included Books 1 and 2 in the following series, Breed, Caleb Thorn, Gunslinger, Herne the Hunter and Jubal Cade.  Following on the tradition of doing 2 books they also did 2 Edge books but for some reason they did not choose Books 1 and 2 but instead did books 6 and 7 !!!

I also have the following books .....

Lythway Large Print, Jubal Cade 1, 6, 8, 15 and 18.

Granada Hardback, Jubal Cade 18.

Linford Large Print, Bodie 2 and 3.  Hart 5.

Hale Hardback, Hart 2 and 4. Hawk 3, 4, 12 and 13. Peacemaker 6.

The GGG fan club I joined a few years ago is sadly no longer in existence. However, I now host a new forum for fans of the Piccadilly Cowboys to drop in and chat with fellow fans.  Terry Harknett, who wrote all the Edge books, all the Steele books, all the Undertaker books, the first 3 Jubal Cade books and 7 of the Apache books, is also a forum member and regularly chats with forum members. Mike Linaker, who wrote all the Bodie books, is also a member and regular contributor.  If you are a western fan, please  click below to drop in and say hello.