Author James Floyd Stevens wrote short stories about the legendary, larger-than-life lumberjack Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox, based on tall tales he had heard in the logging camps of his youth. Born near Iconium, Iowa, he moved to Moravia to live with his grandmother at age five, was sent to live with relatives in Idaho at age ten, and left home at age fifteen to work in the camps. He fought in France during World War I and published his first Paul Bunyan book in 1925. In 1948, he wrote his best-received novel, Big Jim Turner, which had strong autobiographical elements: "Ranch hand, mule skinner, hard rock driller, logger, big town truck teamster, Wobbly, hobo poet," Stevens wrote. "I worked as my hero works…and dreamed as he dreams." A prolific writer, he also wrote poems, song lyrics, and magazine articles, including humorous stories about growing up in Moravia.