Though he does not wear pistols and has never robbed a bank, St. Paul native John Koblas is a leading authority on Jesse James, Cole Younger, the Sontag brothers and other famous outlaws. The current president of the national James-Younger Gang, Koblas has appeared on Good Morning America and was a guest of Charles Kuralt on CBS Sunday Morning. He's also written books on F. Scott Fitzgerald and Sinclair Lewis, and is currently at work on a series of young adult history/mysteries; the first book, Peril at Pig's-Eye Cave, was released last year. The series is based on a book he began as a pulp-fiction reading grade school student. "I always knew I was going to be a writer," Koblas explains. "Dad was a carpenter and an electrician, but I wasn't any good at that." John paid his way through college as piano player for the rock group "The Magpies", and has made his living by writing for the past 25 years. Whistling Shade publisher Joel Van Valin caught up with Koblas, currently recovering from shoulder surgery, at his Burnsville home.

Joel Van Valin: In Peril at Pig's-Eye Cave you introduce young readers to some Minnesota history. Do you think kids are taught enough local history in school?

John Koblas: I think they're taught enough history, but there's not that much local history. History gets a bad rap because kids think it's a boring subject. But I think it can be fun, and my goal is to make it fun. Kids are learning history without knowing they're learning it.

JVV: How much of your own childhood is in Peril at Pig's-Eye Cave?

JK: About half. Moreso in Tweed, some in Doc. [Doc and Tweed are the main characters in the series.] I grew up in a pretty tough neighborhood, so I saw a lot of both sides of life. I was always interested in research, learning all the flags, making a map of the universe. So I was something of a Tweed.

JVV: You are well known for your books on Jesse James, Cole Younger, and other outlaws. How do you go about researching them?

JK: I spent 25 years researching the James/Younger gang. I read everything on the subject, every single Jesse James autobiography I could get my hands on. Then I started going to historical societies and looking at old newspapers. I contacted relatives, got my hands on letters, genealogies, court house documents. What I did is spend 18 years researching my first book--now I can write one book after another because I have the materials.

JVV: Considering you are an outlaw historian, I'd be interested to know your position on gun laws.

JK: I know nothing about guns. I'm a pacifist.

JVV: You've written about F. Scott Fitzgerald as well. What's your favorite work of his?

JK: Gatsby is my favorite novel. Also, the Basil stories that take place here in Minnesota.

JVV: I notice you have a whole bookcase of Doc Savage novels. What's up with that?

JK: I grew up reading the pulp magazines, sci-fi, westerns, mysteries. That's pretty much what the Doc Savage novels were--they appeared in pulp magazines, written by a bunch of hack writers who knocked off a book a week because they needed to eat.

JVV: Jack, you've published many books over the years. Do you have a favorite, one you consider your masterpiece?

JK: There are no masterpieces. My best book was actually my worst book--H.V. Jones: A Newspaperman's Imprint on Minneapolis History. I was commissioned to do the book and paid up front. I had to take a book where there wasn't a lot of excitement and try to make it interesting. Jesse James Northfield Raid--Confessions of the Ninth Man has been the best to me. It had controversy, and the movie people came and did a documentary on it. That was a great experience, walking on the set and there's all these gunfights, and you think `Wow, this all came out of my head!'