Raymond Zinke Gallun (March 22, 1911 – April 2, 1994) was an American science fiction writer.

Early life

Gallun (rhymes with "balloon") was born in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin, the son of Adolph and Martha Zinke Gallun. He graduated from high school in 1928. He left college after one year and travelled in Europe, living a drifter's existence, working a multitude of jobs around the world in the years leading up to World War II.thumb|right|Gallun's novelette "The Moon Mistress" was the cover story for the May 1932 [[Wonder Stories]]

Death and posthumous work

Gallun died of a heart attack at his home in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens, New York, on April 2, 1994.

A posthumous autobiography, Starclimber, authored in part by Gallun and completed by Jeffrey M. Elliot, was published in September 2007. There is an extensive interview with Gallun about his life and career in Eric Leif Davin's Pioneers of Wonder.

In 2017, a mural honoring Gallun was painted in his hometown of Beaver Dam by an organization of sign and mural artists known as "Walldogs."

thumb|Mural honoring Gallun in his hometown of Beaver Dam.

Bibliography

Novels

  • Passport to Jupiter (1951)
  • People Minus X (1957)
  • The Planet Strappers (1961)
  • The Eden Cycle (1974)
  • Skyclimber (1981)
  • Bioblast (1985)

Short fiction

  • "The Space Dwellers" (1929)
  • "Old Faithful" (1934)
  • "Avalanche" (1935, as by Dow Elstar)
  • "The Son of Old Faithful" (1935)
  • "Child of the Stars" (1936)
  • "Seeds of the Dusk" (1938)
  • "The Machine That Thought" (1939, as by William Callahan)
  • "A Step Farther Out" (1950)
  • "Big Pill" (1952)
  • "Apollo at Go" (1963)
  • The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun (collection, 1978)

Nonfiction

  • "Editorial" (Ahoy!, March 1984)
  • "Editorial" (Ahoy!, August 1984)
  • Starclimber (1991)

References

  • Jeffrey Elliot. Interview with Raymond Z. Gallun, Thrust No. 17, Summer 1981.
  • John J. Pierce. "Introduction" in The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun, Ballantine, 1978.