Johnston McCulley (February 2, 1883 – November 23, 1958) was the author of hundreds of stories, fifty novels, numerous screenplays for film and television, and the creator of the character Zorro. Many of his novels and stories were written under the pseudonyms Harrison Strong, Raley Brien, George Drayne, Monica Morton, Rowena Raley, Frederic Phelps, Walter Pierson, and John Mack Stone, among others.

McCulley's Zorro character was first serialized in the story "The Curse of Capistrano" in 1919 in the pulp magazine All-Story Weekly in 1919.

After the enormous success of the 1920 film adaptation of the story, starring Douglas Fairbanks, the story was republished under the name, The Mark of Zorro, by Grosset & Dunlap.

The 1920 Douglas Fairbanks movie was the direct cause for McCulley reviving what had originally been a one-time hero plot. The appearance of the character (black mask and hat) was actually defined by Fairbanks' movie version rather than McCulley's original story, and McCulley copied the Fairbanks incarnation for subsequent stories, as did the many film and television variations that followed.

There is no information about the novel available on Wikipedia at this time, but here is a link to the author entry.