| William Lacey Amy | |
| Pseudonym: | Luke Allan |
| Birth Date: | 9 June 1877 |
| Occupation: | Writer |
| Genre: | Western, mystery |
| Spouse: | |
William Lacey Amy (June 9, 1877 – November 26, 1962) known by the penname Luke Allan was a Canadian journalist and writer of western and mystery fiction.
Amy was born in Sydenham, Ontario, to Rev. Thomas Amy and Mary Ann Balfour. Due to his father's itinerant profession, he was educated wherever his father worked in small towns across Ontario. In 1896 he attended the University of Toronto where he studied classics and athletics. He graduated in 1899 when he married Lillian Eva Payne. A journalist by training, he joined the Medicine Hat Times in 1905 where he worked at reporting, before becoming its editor and later its owner.[1] During his time at the paper he learned the writing profession and he wrote his first short story which appeared in the Canadian Magazine in 1911. The story, "Blue Pete, the Sentimental Half Breed" formed the basis for the series of novels which he would contribute to over the next 45 years.[2]
In 1916, he left Alberta and travelled to Nova Scotia and then to London, England where he worked as a war correspondent and a freelance writer. He published articles in Canadian Magazine detailing the experiences of Canadian soldiers fighting in France.
After the war he travelled the world in Europe, Africa and the Polynesian islands of the Pacific Ocean. He returned to Canada in 1940 due to wartime limitations on travel. His first wife having died in 1938, he married again in 1941 to Gladys Burston Miller.[3]
In the 1930s, he began writing novels sometimes two per year. At this time he began publishing under the pseudonym Luke Allan. He published about 20 novels in the Blue Pete series which were set in western Canada. He portrayed the North West Mounted Police as a powerful force limiting crime. Thus his novels centred more on mystery themes rather than banditry. He also wrote seven novels with a detective protagonist, Gordon Mildrew. He wrote 15 other novels on various themes.[2]
Amy died in St. Petersburg, Florida, on the 26th of November, 1962.