Jim Tully (1886 – 1947) was a vagabond, pugilist, and American writer. After six years in an orphanage, Jim Tully's formal education ened but he loved reading and books kept him company as he lived the live of a 'road-kid'. He hung out in libraries where it was warm and dry, and was particularly fond of reading Mark Twain, Fyodor Dostoyevsky & Honore' de Balzac. After a succession of working class jobs, Tully was encouraged by many to become a writer and he became an influential Hollywood journalist for 20 years from 1924, and published around 14 books. Tully is regarded by some as the originator of "hard boiled" fiction.