Writing
July 18, 1902
Died at age 28
October 10, 1930
Date of Death
Madison, Nebraska, USA
Maurice R. Coons (July 18, 1902 – October 10, 1930), known by the pen name Armitage Trail, was an American pulp fiction author, known best for his 1929 novel Scarface. This novel was based on the life of gangster Al Capone, and was adapted as the 1932 film Scarface directed by Howard Hawks and produced by Howard Hughes. The story was later modernized and remade in the 1983 film Scarface directed by Brian De Palma starring Al Pacino. Coons's only other significant work is the detective novel The Thirteenth Guest, though he is speculated to have used a variety of pseudonyms.