Perry, Clay

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Clair Willard Perry (1887–1961), called Clay Perry, was an American writer and outdoorsman born in 1887 in Waupaca, Wisconsin. Perry moved to western Massachusetts as a young man. A novelist, short story writer, and journalist, in the 1930s he worked for the Federal Writers' Project.

In the late 1920s, Perry wrote stories for The Popular Magazine, including "The Sun Dancers" (September 1928) and "The Flood" (March 1928). He is best known as an amateur caver and as a writer on the caves of New England and the northeastern United States, and is credited with coining the term "spelunker" in the 1940s.

His published works include Underground New England (1939), New England's Buried Treasure (1946), and Underground Empire: Wonders and Tales of New York Caves (1948). He was also the author of a light verse on Israel Bissell, whose ride in April 1775 to warn the colonies of the Battles of Lexington and Concord was overshadowed in historical lore by that of Paul Revere. He died in 1961 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.

Books (2)

Cover of Two-Way Trail

Two-Way Trail

Perry, Clay (author)
Street & Smith Corp. (in The Popular Magazine) • May 7, 1929
Keywords: Yukon gold rush fiction, Klondike romance, Alaska frontier story, historical Western romance, survival love story, gold mining adventure, Dawson City tale, redemption historical fiction, frontier survival, 1890s Alaska

In the frozen heart of the Yukon gold rush, a desperate young woman stands on the bar of a Dawson dance hall, auctioning herself to the highest bidder. Fleeing her predatory stepfather and devastated by her brother's death, she gambles everything on one reckless act of survival. When a broke miner called the Red Rover sacrifices his prized dog team to win her, they vanish into the wilderness on a trail that claims to be one-way for women. Years later, as an old sourdough spins this tale beside a campfire, a white-haired stranger listens—and the truth of what happened on that frozen river proves that some stories never truly end.

Cover of What’s Life Worth

What’s Life Worth

Perry, Clay (author)
Street & Smith Publications. (in The Popular Magazine) • April 7, 1930
Keywords: historical legal fiction, female lawyer protagonist, early 20th century mystery, wrongful accusation thriller, Northwoods crime fiction, courtroom drama short story, redemption romance fiction, small town murder mystery, women in law historical fiction, logging camp crime thriller

In the small northern logging town of Big Neck, a defiant young man stands accused of murdering the most powerful man in town—and seems determined to hang for it. Mary Lee, the only female attorney in the county and the most underestimated one, is the sole voice who believes he may be innocent. As she fights not only the court but her client's own will to live, she unravels a web of old debts, buried secrets, and a crime that runs far deeper than anyone in Big Neck dares to admit. Set against a rugged Northwoods backdrop, this is a story of justice pursued against the odds, and of two broken people who may yet save each other.