November 9: Happy Birthday C. J. Box

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https://lebeauleblog.com/2022/11/09/...thday-c-j-box/

Novelist C. J. Box turns 64 today. He is pictured above with Katheryn Winnick (left) and Kylie Bunbury (right), in a shot taken during the filming of an episode of ABC’s Big Sky.

When ABC began airing Big Sky in the fall of 2020, it was the first screen adaptation of any of Box’s works. The first season adapted The Highway, the first of Box’s five novels (to date) to feature Montana deputy sheriff (later PI) Cassie Dewell (played on screen by Bunbury).



Box was born and grew up in Casper, Wyoming. He graduated from the University of Denver. Before becoming a writer full-time, he worked as a ranch hand and as a small-town newspaper editor and reporter.

In 2001, Box’s first novel was published. Open Season introduced Wyoming game warden Joe Pickett and his family–wife Marybeth and daughters Sheridan and Lucy, eventually joined by adopted daughter April. Box has written about one Joe Pickett novel a year ever since. The 23rd in the series, Storm Watch, comes out early next year.

Last December, Spectrum Originals began airing Joe Pickett, a series adaptation starring Michael Dorman as Joe. It also airs on Paramount+, and has been renewed for a second season.

In 2008, Box published his first standalone novel, Blue Heaven. In 2011, Box wrote Back of Beyond, which introduced Montana sheriff’s deputy Cody Hoyt as a protagonist. The novel is a prequel to the Cassie Dewell series, where Hoyt was once Dewell’s partner.