“A fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust and a hearty "Hi-Yo Silver! Away!" With his faithful Indian companion Tonto, The Lone Ranger,...more daring and resourceful masked rider of the plains, led the fight for law and order in the early west. Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. The Lone Ranger rides again!"
On January 30, 1933 radio audiences in Detroit, Michigan were first to gather around their radios to listen to the adventures of a mysterious masked hero called The Lone Ranger. Fast forward 80 years. On July 3, 2013, The Lone Ranger will be riding into theaters across the U.S. once again in a film starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp and directed by Gore Verbinski. This time the movie will take the audience back to the Lone Ranger’s roots -- revealing the tale of how the man, John Reid, was transformed from a man of the law into a masked man and a legend of justice.
The original Lone Ranger radio show was broadcast locally from Detroit for about a year until a bakery sponsoring the show requested that the show be aired in Chicago and New York as well. The Lone Ranger became an immediate success and soon audiences all across country were tuning in to the dramatic western thriller. Today, the masked figure of the Lone Ranger is a legendary icon in pop culture, but he got his humble beginnings from radio scriptwriter and Theta Chi, Francis Hamilton Striker, Gamma Pi/Buffalo 1926.
Born on August 19, 1903, Brother Striker grew up in Buffalo, N.Y. and became a professional writer at the age of 12 when he was paid $1 for a short story he sold to his hometown newspaper. Upon graduating from Lafayette High School, he attended the University of Buffalo where he majored in chemistry. While attending the university, Striker was a member of Kappa Delta Psi, a local fraternity on campus.
Striker dropped out of school during his junior year to begin a career in radio. He was soon hired by local Buffalo radio station, WEBR, where he worked at everything from radio announcer to studio manager. He also served as one of WEBR's scriptwriters, writing for more than 40 different series – everything from westerns, mysteries, science fiction adventures, and even romantic comedies.
Striker quit WEBR in 1928 and moved to Cleveland to work for WTAM radio. While in Cleveland, Striker wrote a full length play expressly for broadcasting. A year later he 
returned to WEBR as an executive, and then left WEBR again to become a freelance radio scriptwriter. By 1932, Striker was earning about $2 a script, and 92 stations had used his scripts. At one point it was estimated that Striker was putting out more than 50,000 words a week. This work load did not go unnoticed by his neighbors, in fact, Striker began dividing his time spent at the typewriter between his home and his parents home so that he wasn’t disturbing one group of neighbors with 16-20 hours of pecking at the typewriter keys.
In 1932, Striker received a letter for WXYZ station owner, George W. Trendle, in Detroit, about writing a script – a wild-west thriller. Trendle wanted the script to have cowboys, bandits, and lots of hard riding, quick shooting action. Striker accepted the offer and began rewriting his Covered Wagon Days scripts, but they weren’t what Trendle wanted. He had envisioned the main character to be a masked man of mystery, a man of clean living and clean speech, a character who never killed, and a character who would appeal to young and old alike. From those ideas The Lone Ranger was born.
After the incredible success of The Lone Ranger radio series, Striker was offered a full-time position at WXYZ as head of the script department. In addition to writing 156 Lone Ranger scripts a year, Striker was also responsible for several other radio programs, like the contemporary crime fighter series, The Green Hornet and Ned Jordan Secret Agent. He also contributed scripts to Challenge of the Yukon (later appearing on television as Sergeant Preston of the Yukon). Striker also scripted two Lone Ranger novels, two movies, as well as The Lone Ranger and The Green Hornet comic books. In 1945 he wrote the newspaper strip The Sea Wolf, and was the author of the boy’s adventure novels featuring “Tom Quest.”
In early 1948, Paul Margeson, Alpha Tau/Ohio 1947, joined the faculty at the University of Buffalo and began to investigate the local fraternities at Buffalo, trying to determine which was the strongest. He found Kappa Delta Psi and convinced them that they should petition the Grand Chapter of Theta Chi to become a chapter in the growing national fraternity. With their petition approved, Gamma Pi Chapter was officially installed on Feb. 19, 1949. Fran Striker and more than 70 other Kappa Delta Psi alumni and undergraduate members were initiated into the Gamma Pi Chapter during the chapter installation ceremony. According to The Rattle, during the installation banquet, Striker expressed his heartfelt feelings over Kappa Delta Psi’s installation as Gamma Pi Chapter of Theta Chi Fraternity.
Striker’s later work involved reworking old radio scripts for the TV episodes of The Lone Ranger and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, both series were being produced when the radio versions were still on the air. As the TV series became more popular than the radio series, Striker moved his family back to Arcade, NY, and in 1959, and he began teaching a television writing course at the Franklin Street YWCA in Buffalo.
Brother Striker was killed in an automobile accident near Elma, NY, Sept. 4, 1962 at the age of 58. He had accepted a position teaching a creative writing course at his alma mater, the University of Buffalo, and was in the process of moving his family to Buffalo when tragedy struck.
At the time of his death, Brother Striker had authored 3,000 Lone Ranger radio scripts, 18 novels and countless television shows in addition to writing The Green Hornet and Sergeant Preston of the Yukon radio series.
At some point during the Lone Ranger series, Striker created a Creed for the Lone Ranger to give the audience a clear look into the values and ideals of the character. It is currently up for debate as to whether or not The Creed of Theta Chi influenced Striker as he penned the following words, but the similarities are astonishing. The Lone Ranger and his Creed are as timeless as Theta Chi Fraternity. We are proud of Brother Striker and his lasting contribution to Americana with his creation.
The Lone Ranger Creed
“I believe...
That to have a friend, a man must be one.
That all men are created equal and that everyone has within himself the power to make this a better world.
That God put the firewood there but that every man must gather and light it himself.
In being prepared physically, mentally, and morally to fight when necessary for that which is right.
That a man should make the most of what equipment he has.
That 'This government, of the people, by the people and for the people' shall live always.
That men should live by the rule of what is best for the greatest number.
That sooner or later...somewhere...somehow...we must settle with the world and make payment for what we have taken.
That all things change but truth, and that truth alone, lives on forever.
In my Creator, my country, my fellow man."
To learn more about the Lone Ranger click here. This Fan Club website offers mp3 downloads of the radio program.
To read an article that appeared in The Rattle regarding Fran Striker and the 20th Anniversary of The Lone Ranger, click here.
To read and listen to a 2008 NPR All Things Considered story about the 75th Anniversary of the Lone Ranger , click here.
For more information on the upcoming Disney Film, Click here.