HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Robert Anthony Inman (June 13, 1931 – November 20, 2006) was an American educator, journalist and author. Inman was the son of Verne Inman, M.D., former chairman of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at UCSF. He was born in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
and attended Grattan School and Lowell High, achieving the highest honors. As he grew up, he worked summers as manager of the Headen Park Farm, a
Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...
farm founded by his great-great grandfather, Benjamin F. Headen in 1852. The farm house is now the Inman-Headen Museum. Inman graduated from
Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...
with distinction (
Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...
) in 1952, and was awarded back-to-back Fulbright Scholarships in German Literature in
Graz, Austria Graz () is the capital of the Austrian federal state of Styria and the second-largest city in Austria, after Vienna. On 1 January 2025, Graz had a population of 306,068 (343,461 including secondary residence). In 2023, the population of the Gra ...
. During this time he met Joan Marshall (Stanford, '53) at a New Year’s gathering of Stanford friends in Vienna. They were married in Denver in 1958. After 21 years of marriage the couple was amicably divorced but remained good friends. Focused on writing all his life, Inman first authored a play which was performed by the Kaleidoskoptheater ensemble in
Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...
. In the U.S. Army, he served as a linguist in Intelligence Headquarters (Northern Europe) in
Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, Germany. After his discharge, he completed a year of graduate studies at the
Free University of Berlin The Free University of Berlin (, often abbreviated as FU Berlin or simply FU) is a public university, public research university in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in West Berlin in 1948 with American support during the early Cold War period a ...
. He later taught in the Germanic Languages Department at the
University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
in Seattle, and received his master's degree there. He also worked as an editor in the U.W. President's Office. In 1960, Inman and his family moved to Colorado, where he began his first novel and worked as an editor, reporter and librarian for the ''
Denver Post ''The Denver Post'' is a daily newspaper and website published in the Denver metropolitan area. it has an average print circulation of 57,265. In 2016, its website received roughly six million monthly unique visitors generating more than 13 mil ...
''. He later lived in San Francisco and New York City, where he was the editor of all six scientific journals for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, from 1983 to 1987. His publications included two novels, ''The Torturer's Horse'' (1965) and ''The Blood Endures''The blood endures: (1981). He received the O. Henry Award for a short story, "I'll Call You" (1981). Inman published other numerous short stories and articles, and was awaiting publication of a new novel, ''Delphi'', when he died suddenly at the age of 75. Inman was recognized in both
Who's Who A Who's Who (or Who Is Who) is a reference work consisting of biographical entries of notable people in a particular field. The oldest and best-known is the annual publication ''Who's Who (UK), Who's Who'', a reference work on contemporary promin ...
in America and in the World. He was recognized by Men of Achievement in 1992.


References


Inman, Robert Anthony (obituary).
''San Francisco Chronicle'', Sunday, November 26, 2006. {{DEFAULTSORT:Inman, Robert A. 1931 births 2006 deaths 20th-century American novelists American male novelists Writers from San Francisco Stanford University alumni American male journalists Journalists from California 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American journalists