Interviews Ron Lesser
Ron Lesser was one of the most prolific illustrators during the paperback boom and continues to paint every day! He used Steve Holland on hundreds of covers and was kind enough to provide a large number of reference photos from his sessions with Steve, usually shot by Robert Osonitsch in New York City.
Lesser illustrated the first few covers for the popular western series "Fargo' by John Benteen. Neal Fargo was a soldier of fortune clearly based on Lee Marvin's character Henry Fardan in Richard Brooks's classic western "The Professionals' (1966). Here's Benteen's
description of Fargo: "Tall and weather beaten, his prematurely white hair kept close-cropped, he still wears much the same outfit he wore in the service: cavalry boots, campaign hat, jodhpurs, or khaki pants, comfortable shirt."
Lesser enlisted Holland to embody Fargo. Tall and lean, Steve Holland had dark hair and Lesser made him partially salt and pepper on a few of the covers, but focused more on using Holland to convey the sense of danger and adventure that would be found in the pages
of nearly thirty novels rather than get bogged down by the specifics
of his coiffure.
What you're looking at from the top is a photo from a Fargo photo session shot by Osonitsch, the bottom illo is the cover of 'Massacre River' which is probably as close to the white haired Fargo look as Lesser ever got. The larger illustration is a painting by Ron Lesser
of the photo at the top of the page that wasn't used as a cover and hangs in my home office.
"Fargo' is a great series and Benteen really knew how to tell a rollicking adventure. But if not for Steve Holland and Ron Lesser, this great read would have passed me by.
