The In the early days of television and the waning days of old time radio, many radio

programs made the move to the visual medium.

Listeners who had enjoyed the stories for years could tune in and see Joe Friday

Jack Benny, Armis Brooks, and more, but one show reversed the trend and traveled

from television to radio. It was the CBS Mystery Western Hybrid,

Have Gun, Will Travel, and its radio version was one of the last great dramas of the Golden Age of Radio.

The TV series premiered in 1957.

It was created by Sam Rolf and Herb Meadows

and it starred Richard Boone as Paladin, a West Point educated, polished, and

urbane gun for hire in the Old West. Palladin operated out of the upscale

Carleton Hotel in San Francisco, and he solicited business with his card.

It contained the image of a horse-headed knight from a chessboard, and the words,

Have Gunn, will travel, Wire are Paladin, San Francisco?

Palladin had a strong moral code. In one episode he comes to the aid of a woman and a baby

driven out of a wagon train and left to die in the desert. In others, he assists

those wrongfully accused of crimes. In some respects, Palladin was a private eye of the

old west, taking on dangerous jobs for the right price.

The theme of the professional gunman coming to the aid of the average Joe can be seen today in the equalizer,

and to some extent the television series

Person of Interest. In 1958 as the TV show was beginning its second season

CBS launched a radio version.

Richard Boone didn't pull double duty as paladin.

...