David Stern III (September 2, 1909 – November 22, 2003), also known as David J. Stern[1] was an American prose fiction writer and scriptwriter, sometimes under the name Peter Stirling—that of the human lead opposite his most famous character, Francis the Talking Mule.[2] He was the publisher of a New Orleans newspaper for a time, and was the son of a much more prominent newspaper publisher, J. David Stern.