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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 Beaver Dam is a city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States, along Beaver Dam Lake (Wisconsin), Beaver Dam Lake and the Beaver Dam River. The population was 16,708 at the 2020 census, making it the largest city primarily located in Dodge Co ...
, 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 World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
.


Career

Gallun wrote his first two stories, "The Space Dwellers" and "The Crystal Ray" (both published in 1929), at age 16. He was among the stalwart group of early sci-fi pulp writers who popularized the genre. He sold many popular stories to
pulp magazine Pulp magazines (also referred to as "the pulps") were inexpensive fiction magazines that were published from 1896 until around 1955. The term "pulp" derives from the Pulp (paper), wood pulp paper on which the magazines were printed, due to their ...
s in the 1930s. "Old Faithful" (1934) was his first noted story. "The Gentle Brain" was published in "Science Fiction Quarterly" under the pseudonym Arthur Allport. His first book, ''People Minus X'', was published in 1957 by Simon & Schuster, followed by ''The Planet Strappers ''in 1961 (Pyramid). The Ballantine collection issued in 1978, ''The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun'', provides a selection of his early work. Gallun was honored with the I-CON Lifetime Achievement Award in 1985 at I-CON IV; the award was later renamed The Raymond Z. Gallun Award. His pen names include Dow Elstar, E.V. Raymond, William Callahan, and Arthur Allport.


Death and posthumous work

Gallun died of a heart attack at his home in the Forest Hills neighborhood of
Queens, New York Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
, 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."


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) *"The Crystal Ray" (1929) *"The Revolt of the Starmen" (1932)Free SF on line *"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 Thrust is a reaction force described quantitatively by Newton's third law. When a system expels or accelerates mass in one direction, the accelerated mass will cause a force of equal magnitude but opposite direction to be applied to that ...
'' No. 17, Summer 1981. * John J. Pierce. "Introduction" in ''The Best of Raymond Z. Gallun'', Ballantine, 1978. *


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gallun, Raymond Z. 1911 births 1994 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers Novelists from Wisconsin People from Beaver Dam, Wisconsin American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers Writers from Queens, New York