From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. John W. Cunningham (July 28, 1915 – June 4, 2002) was an American author who composed a number of Western novels and stories. During the Second World War, he served in the U.S. Army in the South Pacific. While living in Santa Barbara, California, he became a published novelist. He moved to Ashland, Oregon in 1985 where he lived until his death. His most famous work was "The Tin Star", a short story which appeared in Colliers Magazine in 1947. It was adapted into the film High Noon in 1952, which starred Gary Cooper alongside Grace Kelly. The adapted screenplay by Carl Foreman was nominated for an Academy Award. Description above from the Wikipedia article John W. Cunningham, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia