Donald Merriam Hough (June 29, 1895 – May 11, 1965) was an American humorist and author of 7 books, over 400 magazine articles, and 3 film scripts for the Hal Roach's Streamliners series.

In addition to his extensive writing career, he also had jobs as a publicist, advertising and sales manager, and taught at The City College of New York and the State University of Iowa.

Hough's father, who was a purchasing agent for the Tri-State Telephone Company in St. Paul, found about an offer of free streetcars being given away, and took five of the cars and moved them on to a lot he owned.

Gambling was illegal at that time, but law enforcement looked the other way, and Hough proceeded to lose all their money in a roulette game in Jackson Hole.

[8] He eventually moved out of Wyoming and headed to Hollywood where he turned his stories into short films for the Hal Roach's Streamliners series.

[11] In the spring of 1942, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he re-enlisted as a Captain in the Air Force, first serving as a gunnery instructor at a base in Las Vegas, before being shipped overseas to the Southwest Pacific.

[8][12] The Office of War Information reprinted Captain Retread in English, French, German and Italian, and Hough had the distinction of having more copies of his books released through Armed Services editions than any other author.

[14] In 1944, Hough appeared on the NBC Radio show Words At War, a program produced in cooperation with the Council on Books in Wartime.

A local bartender remembered Hough telling her that if he "stayed late enough, people walked away and left their drinks, and you could pick one up and didn't have to buy them".